Talks

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From Pop to the Pit: Ed Colver Presents Music Photos 1978-1989

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Culled from the Herald-Examiner photo archive and the Gary Leonard Collection, Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection presents a glimpse into a decade in the musical life of a city that produced scores of hit singles, strikingly diverse genres, and tremendous excitement. Join us in reliving an extraordinary time in Los Angeles’ music scene with rarely seen images of the bands that helped define the era.

On Display in the History & Genealogy Department from January 8 to June 28, 2015

In conjunction with this exhibit, the Los Angeles Public Library and Photo Friends are excited to present a special lecture series featuring notable local music photographers. On Saturday April 18, 2015, Ed Colver will present images from his archive. Mark Taper Auditorium, 2 pm. This will be a free but ticketed event; information will be posted in late March to https://photofriendslapl.blogspot.com/

Seating is on a first come, first serve basis with doors opening approximately 1/2 hour before the start of the program. Presented by Photo Friends LAPL.

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From Pop to the Pit: Gary Leonard Presents Music Photos 1978-1989

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Culled from the Herald-Examiner photo archive and the Gary Leonard Collection, Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection presents a glimpse into a decade in the musical life of a city that produced scores of hit singles, strikingly diverse genres, and tremendous excitement. Join us in reliving an extraordinary time in Los Angeles’ music scene with rarely seen images of the bands that helped define the era.

On Display in the History & Genealogy Department from January 8 to June 28, 2015

In conjunction with this photo exhibit, the Los Angeles Public Library and Photo Friends are excited to present a special lecture series featuring notable local music photographers. Gary Leonard will present images from his book, Make the Music Go Bang, and talk about his connection to the LA music scene, which will include “then and now” portraits of LA musicians.

Saturday, March 14, 2015 at 2 pm in the Mark Taper Auditorium, Central Library. Seating is on a first come first serve basis, with doors opening approx. 1/2 hr. before the program.

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LAVA’s 41st Sunday Salon

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Please note that, due to limited room capacity, attendees must register to attend the LAVA Sunday Salon. To sign up for this free event: First register as a user on this site, or login to your existing account and then return to this page. Refresh the page and the signup field will appear just to the left of this text. Enter your email address. No plus-ones; each guest must register individually. If you find you are unable to attend, please return to this page and cancel your reservation. Also, note that the Sunday Salon has a new time slot: 2-4pm.

Architectural Historian Nathan Marsak, the LAVA Visionary of the Year for 2015, presents on the forgotten architectural landscape of nineteenth-century Los Angeles—a lost world whose most salient impulse was toward the imposing, rough-hewn blocks of the Romanesque.

The common narrative regarding the visual development of early Los Angeles usually involves the native vernacular of the pueblo, which one may still visit in any number of extant adobes; from there, following some historic boom times, we Angelenos and visitors alike are regaled by the wondrous Beaux-Arts high-rises of downtown. If pure Victorian architecture is considered, one likely turns attention to the Eastlake and Queen Anne examples along Carroll Avenue, or to the used-car lot of gingerbread, Heritage Square.

This does a disservice, asserts Marsak, to the wonderland of Richardsonian Romanesque, Romanesque Revival, and Romanesque-hybrid office blocks and civic structures that once defined our city. A confluence of money and local pride, primarily in the late-1880s, resulted in what was arguably America’s greatest center of the style, short-lived though it may have been. The ethos of the City Beautiful movement, skyscraper construction, and other factors contributed to its demise.

It is especially striking that these structures, whose construction exuded solidity and permanence, should have been removed on so great a scale. Besides illuminating twenty of the most notable lost masterpieces, Marsak’s lecture will visit those few remaining examples of the style. Attention will be given as well to the styles that fought for dominance in defining Victorian Los Angeles, e.g., French Empire.

Hot Lead and Hot Leads: Forensic Firearm / Gang Communication Analysis forensic science seminar
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Hot Lead and Hot Leads: Forensic Firearm / Gang Communication Analysis forensic science seminar

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To purchase a ticket for this special event, click here. If you’d like to be contacted when another crime lab tour and lecture are scheduled, subscribe to LAVA’s occasional Crime Lab Newsletter.

Join us in the Cal State Los Angeles teaching crime lab for an afternoon’s inquiry into the history and practice of forensic science in Los Angeles, in support of new research coming out of the Criminalistics Department. 

Presentation #1: The Secrets of Forensic Firearm Analysis with Forensic Firearm and Toolmark Examiner Michael I. Kelley

For our first talk, join Michael I. Kelley, who works with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department as a trainer in the Firearm Identification unit, and who previously presented on his crime scene reconstruction of Pat Tillman’s death in Afghanistan, for an in-depth presentation on law enforcement techniques for analyzing projectiles and weapons from criminal investigations.

In this introduction to the science of forensic firearm analysis, illustrated with real crime scene photographs and casework, Mike will cover:

  • Examination of ammunition.
  • Microscopic comparisons of fired bullets, cartridge cases and toolmarks.
  • Distance Determination.
  • Serial number restorations.
  • Physical fracture matches.
  • The Cross Fire (IBIS) System
  • Toolmark identification

Presentation #2: Murder Behind Bars with LASD Team Leader and educator Nick Guskos

For our second talk, join LASD Team Leader and educator Nick Guskos, co-author of the 2013 textbook Criminal Investigation: An Illustrated Case Study Approach, for an insightful presentation inside the hidden world of gang communication. Nick takes us deep within the investigation into a case of a murder which occurred inside the walls of the Los Angeles County Jail. You’ll follow along as the case unfolds and is eventually solved through intelligence gathering. Intelligence gathering is the key to understanding all complex criminal organizations, including terrorism. This latter area is the topic of Nick’s doctoral dissertation, and will be covered at the conclusion of his talk.

By the afternoon’s conclusion, attendees will have a deeper understanding of the real work that’s done in the field by forensic investigators, and the tools and techniques used to interpret physical evidence and analyze intelligence for the benefit of investigating officers and juries.

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LAVA’s 40th Sunday Salon (Reservations Now Full)

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UPDATE: Please note that reservations for this event are now closed, as we have reached capacity. If you would like to try to attend but have not yet reserved, please note that we will begin admitting ticketed guests at 1:30pm on 2/22. At 2pm, any ticketed guest who has not arrived will forfeit their reservation, and we will then admit non-ticketed guests on a first come, first served basis until the room reaches capacity. You may come to the venue and put your name (just your name, no +1s) on the waiting list starting at 1:30pm. 

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Please note that, due to limited room capacity, attendees must register to attend the LAVA Sunday Salon. No plus-ones; each guest must register individually. If you find you are unable to attend, please return to this page and cancel your reservation. Also, note that the Sunday Salon has a new time slot: 2-4pm. 

Join LAVA Visionary and art historian Dr. Paul Koudounaris, author of “Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures and Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs” and “The Empire of Death: A Cultural History of Ossuaries and Charnel Houses” for a very special presentation inaugurating the relaunch of the monthly LAVA Sunday Salon at Library Bar.

Demonically-Possessed Cats with Dr. Paul Koudounaris

Does your cat do things like:

spit fire?

speak in tongues?

levitate?

shape shift?

wantonly kill people for no apparent reason?

This behavior may be more than simple bad kitty syndrome—your cat may be possessed by a demon. But don’t worry, you’re not alone. In fact, there is an entire history of demonically-possessed cats. Felines were once considered by theologians to be easy prey for demons, who could enter their bodies and wreck incredible havoc on mankind. And did you know… demonically-possessed cats are still believed to be with us today?! Dr. Paul Koudounaris has immersed himself in the study of demonic cats, in order to to give a talk on this sadly neglected topic. Cat lovers will like this lecture, and cat haters will like it even more. Neither side will ever look at a domestic cat the same way again.

Please note this lecture has been given by Dr. Koudounaris in abbreviated forms about town, but this only time he will present the full lecture in Los Angeles.

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KPCC’s “Serial” Season 1 finale and debrief

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“Serial,” the true crime podcast from the producers of “This American Life,” has become an internet obsession. The first season broke the iTunes record for fastest podcast to reach 5 million downloads and streams and the series has been covered by media from the Wall Street Journal to the Colbert Report.

A 15-year-old murder case is at the core of the story. Host Sarah Koenig has been exploring the disappearance and death of Hae Min Lee and the murder conviction of her ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed. She and her team have been digging into the details and talking to the people involved, podcasting their findings in a new episode each week. Throughout the series the investigative team hasn’t known what was coming next or how many episodes it would take to tell the entire tale.

Now the story will come to a close in the twelfth episode to be released Thursday December 18. You can listen to the season finale at our Crawford Family Forum with fellow fans of “Serial” and KPCC managing editor of news Kristen Muller and science reporter Sanden Totten. After we hear the podcast, we’ll talk about the findings with special guests, including crime historian and mystery novelist Kim Cooper (Esotouric/ “The Kept Girl“), attorney Alan Jackson (Partner with Brown White & Newhouse LLP and former Assistant Head Deputy District Attorney with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office) and attorney Lisa Kang (Alternate Public Defender for Los Angeles County).

Join us and tell us what you think about the case, the storytelling and its conclusion. Free, reservations required from https://www.scpr.org/events/2014/12/18/1637/serial-season-1-finale-listening-session/

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Pasadena Public Library Talk: Kim Cooper and Richard Schave on “The Kept Girl”

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Join us in the gorgeous National Register Pasadena Central Library, as true crime historian/novelist Kim Cooper discusses and reads from “The Kept Girl” (Esotouric Ink, 2014), a 1920s mystery starring the young Raymond Chandler, his devoted secretary and the real-life Philip Marlowe all on the trail of a murderous cult of angel worshippers. Accompanying Kim is husband Richard Schave, her partner in Esotouric bus adventures and LAVA – the Los Angeles Visionaries Association, and the designer of this 1940s-inspired paperback, the debut publication of their L.A.-centric press, Esotouric Ink. Kim’s illustrated talk will draw on her years of research into the lost lore of Los Angeles, with a focus on the bizarre Great Eleven cult, which ensnared dozens of credulous Angelenos in their mystical rites before one disgruntled ex-believer brought the whole enterprise tumbling down. You’ll hear about Raymond Chandler’s pre-literary life as an oil company executive, the idealistic L.A. policeman who is a likely model for Philip Marlowe, the real woman who inspired the character of Chandler’s secretary Muriel, and the terrible secrets revealed by the fraud investigation in the Great Eleven’s activities. Richard will share insights into how he used cutting edge computing tools to evoke the look and feel of a mid-century book, and Kim will talk abut the deluxe Art Deco wraps created for the Subscribers, whose pre-publication support covered a big chunk of the print cost.  The talk will be followed by a Q&A, and copies of “The Kept Girl” and “The Raymond Chandler Map of Los Angeles” will be available for purchase and signing by the author.

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“The World of Raymond Chandler: In His Own Words” talk, book signing and walking tour

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To sign up for this free event: First register as a user on this site, and then return to this page. Refresh the page and the signup tab will appear just to the left. Enter your email address. No plus-ones; each guest must register individually.

LAVA – The Los Angeles Visionaries Association and The Larry Edmunds Bookshop invite you to join Barry Day for a celebration of his new book, The World of Raymond Chandler: In His Own Words (Random House). Space is extremely limited and reservations required for this free event.

Barry Day will give a short illustrated talk about Raymond Chandler and his new book, answer questions and sign books.

Immediately following the signing, LAVA co-founders and Raymond Chandler historians Richard Schave (host of Raymond Chandler’s Los Angeles: In A Lonely Place) & Kim Cooper (author of The Kept Girl and The Raymond Chandler Map of Los Angeles) will lead a free hour-long walking tour of Chandler’s downtown, ending at the King Eddy Saloon with a tour of the genuine prohibition speakeasy in its basement. Locations will include the Oviatt Building (called The Treolar Building in The Lady in the Lake), the Barclay Hotel (site of an icepick murder in The Little Sister), and numerous points of interest along the way. Please note that the walking tour will not return to its starting point, but it will be a short walk back at each guest’s leisure. 

ABOUT BARRY DAY: Barry Day is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and a trustee of the Noël Coward Foundation. In addition to his seven previous books on Noël Coward, he has written about Dorothy Parker, Oscar Wilde, Johnny Mercer, and Rodgers & Hart. Day was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) “for services to British culture in the United States.”

ABOUT THE NEW BOOK: Raymond Chandler never wrote a memoir or autobiography. The closest he came to writing either was in—and around—his novels, shorts stories, and letters. There have been books that describe and evaluate Chandler’s life, but to find out what he himself felt about his life and work, Barry Day, editor of The Letters of Noël Coward (“There is much to dazzle here in just the way we expect…  the book is meticulous, artfully structured—splendid” —Daniel Mendelsohn; The New York Review of Books), has cannily, deftly chosen from Chandler’s writing, as well as the many interviews he gave over the years as he achieved cult status, to weave together an illuminating narrative that reveals the man, the work, the worlds he created. Using Chandler’s own words as well as Day’s text, here is the life of “the man with no home,” a man precariously balanced between his classical English education with its immutable values and that of a fast-evolving America during the years before the Great War, and the changing vernacular of the cultural psyche that resulted. Chandler makes clear what it is to be a writer, and in particular what it is to be a writer of “hardboiled” fiction in what was for him “another language.” Along the way, he discusses the work of his contemporaries: Dashiell Hammett, James M. Cain, Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Agatha Christie, W. Somerset Maugham, and others (“I wish,” said Chandler, “I had one of those facile plotting brains, like Erle Gardner”).

Where There's Smoke forensic science seminar
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Where There’s Smoke forensic science seminar

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To purchase a ticket for this special event, click here. If you’d like to be contacted when another crime lab tour and lecture are scheduled, subscribe to LAVA’s occasional Crime Lab Newsletter.

Join us in the Cal State Los Angeles teaching crime lab for an afternoon’s inquiry into the history of forensic science in Los Angeles, in support of new research coming out of the Criminalistics Department. We are delighted to announce a return engagement by LAVA favorite Ed Nordskog, Senior Arson Investigator for the LASD and author of “‘Torchered’ Minds: Case Histories of Notorious Serial Arsonists“ and “Fire Raisers, Freaks and Fiends: Obsessive Arsonists in the California Foothills.” Ed will present in detail on how two of his most fascinating recent investigations were solved. Case #1: St John Vianney Catholic Church arson, Hacienda Heights. In April 2011, a brazen arsonist entered the church sanctuary and carefully ensured its destruction. Two priests sleeping in the attached building narrowly escaped with their lives. You’ll marvel at the two-year, multi-agency investigation, the bizarre suspect and how toilet paper became the key to breaking the case. Case #2: Marijuana Shop Fires. Beginning in 2009, black street gangs began firebombing marijuana dispensaries throughout the Los Angeles basin, with a large number occurring in Hollywood and West Hollywood. Watch as the facts fall into place through the recently concluded four-year investigation, resulting in the convictions of 11 conspirators and a surprising ring leader.

By the end of Ed’s presentation, attendees will have gained familiarity with the real-world experience of a top arson investigator, and with the shadow worlds inhabited by two very different types of arsonist. Copies of Ed Nordskog’s books will be available for purchase during the program.

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Bruckman Rare Book Friends Talk: Kim Cooper and Richard Schave on “The Kept Girl”

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Bruckman Rare Book Friends present Kim Cooper discussing and signing copies of her latest book, The Kept Girl, a 1920s mystery starring the young Raymond Chandler, his devoted secretary and the real-life Philip Marlowe all on the trail of a murderous cult of angel worshippers.

Accompanying Kim is her husband Richard Schave, her partner in Esotouric bus adventures and LAVA – the Los Angeles Visionaries Association, and the designer of this 1940s-inspired paperback, the debut publication of their L.A.-focused press, Esotouric Ink.

Kim’s illustrated talk will draw on her years of research into the lost lore of Los Angeles, with a focus on the bizarre Great Eleven cult, which began just above the library on Bunker Hill and ensnared dozens of credulous Angelenos in their mystical rites before one disgruntled ex-believer brought the whole enterprise tumbling down. You’ll hear about Raymond Chandler’s pre-literary life as a downtown oil company executive, the idealistic L.A. policeman who is a likely model for Philip Marlowe, the real woman who inspired the character of Chandler’s secretary Muriel, and the terrible secrets revealed by the fraud investigation in the Great Eleven’s activities.

Richard will share insights into how he used cutting edge computing tools to evoke the look and feel of a mid-century book, and Kim will talk about the deluxe Art Deco wraps created for the Subscribers, whose pre-publication support covered a big chunk of the print cost.  Copies of the paperback and deluxe Art Deco Subscribers’ edition will be available for purchase after the talk.  

Read LAPL Librarian Robert Anderson’s review of The Kept Girl here. Read Kim Cooper’s love letter to Central Library here. 

Validated parking is just $1.00 with library card at Westlawn Garage, 524 South Flower Street. For ADA accommodations, call (213) 228-7430 at least 72 hours prior to the event.

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