KCRW's L.A. Observed

Rainy Day History

podmaster@kcrw.org (Kevin Roderick) — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:44:00 EST

After a week of tornado damage, power outages, evacuations, hail and snarled traffic, it's time to pronounce all this rain?a welcome success. Southern California has so far escaped the disastrous mudslides and debris flows that many feared after the big Station Fire. And we've gotten a nice reminder of how much our lives are tied to the Pacific and the jet stream...

Jay, Conan and the Rest

podmaster@kcrw.org (Kevin Roderick) — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 19:44:00 EST

Well here we are at the end of the second week of the great American late night talk show crisis, and I still don't know how I feel about who gets to read jokes off cue cards on NBC at 11:35 p.m...

Saying Goodbye to LA

podmaster@kcrw.org (Kevin Roderick) — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:44:00 EST

Here at the start of a new year, when the tone of the city is usually to look ahead, the local news has been full of some notable goodbyes. The first to catch my eye was the rather pointed exit from Los Angeles of the LA Philharmonic Orchestra's principal flutist -- or if you prefer, flautist...

Historic Trees of LA

podmaster@kcrw.org (Kevin Roderick) — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 19:44:00 EST

2009 Standing Ovations

podmaster@kcrw.org (Kevin Roderick) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 19:44:00 EST

Closure, 2009

podmaster@kcrw.org (Kevin Roderick) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 19:44:00 EST

Now that 2009 is coming to a close, I suspect we can all agree it's been a pretty rough year. The recession became more harsh and personal for many in Southern California, and the best thing to be said about it is there are the first signs of better days ahead next year...

An LA Style Election

podmaster@kcrw.org (Kevin Roderick) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:44:00 EST

In a corner of the San Fernando Valley section of LA, the voters in one city council district this week put another election to bed. It wasn't exactly an all-consuming event ? only about 15 percent of the eligible voters bothered to cast a ballot. Except for a few excited activist bloggers, the media mostly passed on the race, declining to offer much in the way of in-depth reporting...

Spector Shows Up Uninvited

podmaster@kcrw.org (Kevin Roderick) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:44:00 EST

An occupational hazard of following the news obsessively is that you're rarely surprised -? truly surprised -? by anything that happens. It doesn't mean that you know ahead of time what's going to happen. It just means that when news comes across your screen -- like say, the Tiger Woods story, or that couple sidling into the White House dinner uninvited -- you are seldom shocked. More often, there's a part of you that thinks, hmm, should have seen that coming. But I must admit, while scrolling through my Twitter feed the other day, I was completely floored by one news nugget...

Tales of Gavin Newsom

podmaster@kcrw.org (Kevin Roderick) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:44:00 EST

This past week I managed to break free of the Los Angeles gravity for a few days and travel among our fellow Californians who live north of the Tehachapi Mountains. Writers through the years have already described very well how we southern Californians stand out from the northerners. And vice-versa. No need to go there again...

Eyes on L.A.

podmaster@kcrw.org (Kevin Roderick) — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:44:00 EST

We didn't plan it this way, but earlier this week on the LA Observed website we had two posts back to back about photographers from out of town casting their eyes on Los Angeles. Both artists are resolute in their pursuit of L.A. as subject, yet completely different in what they bring to the task. As you'll see...