For immediate release

September 3, 2010

Bus tour explores the historic L.A. NOIR world of mobster Mickey Cohen versus the LAPD

WHAT:  Third edition of Esotouric's special guest hosted "John Buntin's L.A. Noir" bus and walking tour, which debuted in a sold-out September 2009 run
WHEN:  Saturday October 16, 12pm-4pm, departing from Clifton's Cafeteria, 648 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA 90014
COST:  $62/person including snack
MORE INFO:  visit http://www.esotouric.com/lanoir or call 323-223-2767
RELATED TOURS:  Esotouric's October noir series also "The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's Southern California Nightmare" (10/9, info at http://esotouric.com/cain) and their debut CSULA crime lab tour event (10/24, sold out, info at http://lavatransforms.org/crimelab)

LOS ANGELES, CA-- Other cities have histories. Los Angeles has legends. For more than sixty years, writers and directors from Raymond Chandler and Billy Wilder to Roman Polanski and James Ellroy have explored L.A.'s origins, its underbelly, and (yes) its blondes in fiction and films like "The Big Sleep," "Double Indemnity," "Chinatown," and "L.A. Confidential." Yet this preoccupation with a mythic past has obscured something important -- the true history of noir Los Angeles.

Now John Buntin, the author of "L.A. Noir: The Struggle for the Soul of America's Most Seductive City" (Random House), and Esotouric, L.A.'s most eclectic bus adventure company, have teamed up to explore the forgotten haunts, hits, and harems of underworld L.A. and the rivalry between the two men who shaped it -- one L.A.'s most notorious gangster, the other its most controversial police chief. The tour debuted in a sold out run in September 2009, with a repeat engagement in April 2010.

Featherweight boxer Mickey Cohen left the ring for the rackets, first as mobster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel's enforcer, then as his protégé and successor. Frank Sinatra, Robert Mitchum, and Sammy Davis Jr. palled around with him; TV journalist Mike Wallace wanted his stories; evangelist Billy Graham sought his soul.

William H. Parker was the proud son of a pioneering law enforcement family from the fabled frontier town of Deadwood. As a rookie patrolman in the Roaring Twenties, he discovered that L.A. was ruled by a shadowy "Combination" of tycoons, politicians and underworld bosses. His life mission became to topple it -- and to create a police force that would never answer to elected officials again. In the process, he created the Dragnet-era LAPD, unwittingly paving the way for the Watts riots and creating a culture that LAPD police chief Charlie Beck continues to struggle with even today.

Novelist Michael Connelly calls "L.A. Noir" "fascinating, flat out entertaining." "[I]mportant and wonderfully enjoyable," says Tim Rutten of the Los Angeles Times. Kirkus Reviews raves, "A roller coaster ride... Gripping social history and a feast for aficionados of cops-and-robbers stories, both real and imagined," and USC historian Kevin Starr says the book is "a tour de force of non-fiction narrative." Together, Buntin and Esotouric take you on a journey to the sites where Hollywood madam Brenda Allen played and where Mickey's enforcers killed to enforce his will.

From Clifton's redwood-themed Brookdale Cafeteria downtown, L.A. Noir passengers will proceed on foot to the movie palace where 17-year-old Bill Parker worked as an usher -- and fell into a disastrous love affair -- as well as the site of 9-year-old Mickey Cohen's first holdup. Boarding a luxurious coach class bus, the tour will visit Mickey Cohen's childhood haunts in the old Jewish neighborhood Boyle Heights, as well as the site of one of L.A.'s most notorious attempted assassinations, en route to significant spots in LAPD and mob history. We'll stop by "the glass house," visit one of fashion plate madam Brenda Allen former haunts, visit an eerie mob body dump site on the edge of Vernon, stop by Cohen's old commission office, hear a first-hand account of how Mickey operated, tour the Los Angeles Police Academy and visit the old Lincoln Heights jail, site of the brutal Christmas 1951 events that inspired the opening of James Ellroy's "L.A. Confidential."

With Kim Cooper, the creator of Esotouric's true crime tours and creator of the new L.A. time travel blog In SRO Land (http://www.insroland.org) riding shotgun, there will also be plenty of surprises. So get on the bus as the whole filthy truth is spread out before you, as only the Esotouric crew and special guest stars like John Buntin can do.

ABOUT ESOTOURIC: Founded in 2007 by newlyweds Kim Cooper and Richard Schave, the company quickly cornered the market on offbeat true crime history tours and highbrow literary and architectural explorations. From their "The Real Black Dahlia" tour ("an L.A. classic" -- Los Angeles Times) to "Raymond Chandler's L.A.," sold-out personal history tours guest hosted by James Ellroy to alternative neighborhood guides like "Pasadena Confidential," Esotouric's weekly bus adventure has become a must for locals seeking to know their city better, and a lucky find for savvy travelers.

Upcoming Esotouric bus tour and special event schedule
Sat Sept 11 - Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice crime bus tour
Sat Sept 18 - Pasadena Confidential crime bus tour
Sat Sept 25 - The Real Black Dahlia crime bus tour
Sat Oct 9 - The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's So. Cal Nightmare
Sat Oct 16 - John Buntin's L.A. Noir
Sun Oct 24 - CSULA crime lab tour (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat Nov 6 - Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles
Sun Nov 7 - CSULA crime lab tour (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat Nov 13 - Haunts of a Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski's L.A.
Sat Dec 4  - Pasadena Confidential with Crimebo the Clown
Sat Dec 11 - Eastside Babylon crime bus tour

Esotouric's Kim Cooper and Richard Schave and tour host John Buntin are proud members of LAVA - The Los Angeles Visionaries Association. http://www.lavatransforms.org

A limited number of journalists on assignment can be accommodated on the bus and at the Cal State Los Angeles crime lab for "The Science and Art of Forensic Investigations: Criminalistics from Test Tube to Testimony" on 10/24 or 11/7. For interviews with John Buntin, contact Jessica Reich at (212) 547-6501. Esotouric founders Kim Cooper and Richard Schave are also available for interviews, contact Kim at amscrayATgmailDOTcom, 323-223-2767.

For immediate release
 
September 2, 2010
 
L.A. Bus Tour Traces Film Noir's Path from James M. Cain's Fiction to the Screen

WHAT: Esotouric's The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's Southern California Nightmare tour
WHEN: Saturday October 9, 12pm-4pm  
WHERE: Departing from Philippe The Original, 1001 Alameda, downtown LA
COST: $58/person (15% off for KCRW or KPCC members)
INFO: http://www.esotouric.com, 323-223-2767

LOS ANGELES- Southern California, 1931: Musing over fresh urban sprawl atop bulldozed orange groves and the bitter realization that you can't eat the sunshine, newly arrived writer James M. Cain found a kernel of truth and his voice. That voice would become the dominant note in the development of a unique American genre, Film Noir, which spawned the abiding Los Angeles myth of the solitary, relentless detective.

THE BIRTH OF NOIR is a four-hour luxury bus tour celebrating the life, work, myths and passions of hard-boiled American novelist James M. Cain through his best known books, "The Postman Always Rings Twice," "Mildred Pierce" and "Double Indemnity," and how their screen adaptations shaped Film Noir.
 
How did East Coat sophisticate Cain go from editor of "The New Yorker" to populist novelist accused of writing dirty books? The tour explores the writer's life and work with a focus on his time in Southern California, where his observations on Malibu, Hollywood, Pasadena and the low rent 'burbs of Glendale are as provocative today as they were seventy years ago.

The tour also covers the gifted people who transformed Cain's tales into movies, among them Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler, Joan Crawford and Lana Turner. "The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's Southern California Nightmare" is a complex portrait of a fascinating character who was seduced and transformed by his time in the Southland, a hard working movie industry professional who sank into drink and despair, ultimately a uniquely Californian artist.
 
Hosted by Esotouric's Richard Schave, the tour departs from beloved dining landmark Philippe the Original, where passengers can enjoy delicious pie in honor of legendary baking mama Mildred Pierce. The tour itself draws on Cain's essays, short stories, novels, films and the memories of his friends and colleagues to paint a portrait of LA in the 1930s and 1940s through the eyes of the writer. The tour spans Hollywood to Glendale and along old Route 66, and includes illuminating visits to the actual "Mildred Pierce" house, the Glendale Train Station where the "Double Indemnity" murder plot played out, and the punch line to a Billy Wilder joke so subtle, it's taken six decades for anyone to get. Get on the bus to share in the laughter and the pathos of Cain's Southern California.

Upcoming Esotouric bus tour and special event schedule
Sat Sept 11 - Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice crime bus tour
Sat Sept 18 - Pasadena Confidential crime bus tour
Sat Sept 25 - The Real Black Dahlia crime bus tour
Sat Oct 9 - The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's So. Cal Nightmare
Sat Oct 16 - John Buntin's L.A. Noir
Sun Oct 24 - CSULA crime lab tour (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat Oct 30 - Maja's Mysteries: Rapture & Release
Sat Nov 6 - Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles
Sun Nov 7 - CSULA crime lab tour (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat Nov 13 - Haunts of a Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski's L.A.
Sat Dec 4  - Pasadena Confidential with Crimebo the Clown
Sat Dec 11 - Eastside Babylon crime bus tour

Esotouric's Richard Schave, Kim Cooper and Joan Renner are proud members of LAVA - The Los Angeles Visionaries Association. http://www.lavatransforms.org
 
For more info on Esotouric, visit http://www.esotouric.com
 
Tour host Richard Schave is available for interviews, and journalists on assignment can often be accommodated on the Esotouric bus. Contact Kim at amscrayATgmailDOTcom, 323-223-2767.

For immediate release
 
August 26, 2010
 
Newly discovered color photos of old Bunker Hill bring lost Los Angeles back to life
 
WHAT: Archival quality prints are now available of the long-lost 3-D color photographs of the historic Bunker Hill neighborhood taken by vaudeville star George Mann in the 1950s and 1960s
ONLINE PHOTO SHOP: http://www.onbunkerhill.org/georgemannshop
PRICE: Single archival quality prints are $40, sets of four cost $125, and the 29-photograph portfolio is $825 (all prices US).
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: http://www.onbunkerhill.org/georgemann
 
LOS ANGELES- The lost Victorian neighborhood of Bunker Hill was demolished fifty years ago in a misguided urban renewal project, but a newly discovered set of incredible color photographs taken by ex-Vaudevillian George Mann shortly before the bulldozers came has local history buffs all a-buzz.
 
And now, two months after their debut on L.A.'s time travel blog On Bunker Hill and a passionate discussion thread on local architecture blog Curbed, On Bunker Hill in association with Esotouric and the George Mann Archives makes these astonishing photographs available to an eager public. Single archival quality prints are $40, sets of four cost $125, and the 29-photograph portfolio costs $825 (all prices US). This is just the first in a series of George Mann's previously unseen mid-century California photographic portfolios. Coming soon: circus scenes, the poignant land-buying frenzy at failed Southland developments The Salton Sea and California City, and sweetly risqué nude pinup photos in color and black and white.
 
Taken in 1958 and 1962 by former Vaudeville star George Mann (half of the comedy acrobatic dance troupe Barto & Mann) for placement in the 3-D viewing machines he manufactured and distributed to Southland bars and restaurants, the 26 stunning Bunker Hill images include several photographs of the Angels Flight Railway in its original location, iconic Grand Avenue mansions-turned-rooming houses The Richelieu and The Castle, and everyday scenes of Bunker Hill residents combing their cats and enjoying the sunshine against a backdrop of gorgeous Victorian architecture. Also included in the Bunker Hill portfolio are three interesting downtown shots: the Sentous Building that Olvera Street's Christine Sterling vainly sought to save, the moody Sawyer Apartments, and spiritualist quack Victor Segno's exotic American Institute of Mentalism.
 
George Mann's Bunker Hill photos were discovered in his archives by daughter-in-law Dianne Woods, who says, "I manage the George Mann Archive full time, I love his images -- it's personal. When I recently stumbled upon the photographs that George shot of Bunker Hill it was so clear that I had 'something.' I was on the internet looking for a home even before I had them scanned.  Kim Cooper's blog On Bunker Hill is, of course, that home.  I'm almost never wrong when it comes to the impact of George's photographs, and the Bunker Hill images have been no exception. It is a complete thrill for us, and we know it would have been for George, to contribute this bit of time-travel to the Bunker Hill community." And George Mann's son Brad Smith adds, "What fun it's been for us to watch the interest in George's photographs grow. We enjoy so much sharing these wonderful Los Angeles images with those who seem to get as much pleasure from George's work as we do. We've said so many times, 'If only George were here to see this!'"
 
On Bunker Hill contributor Nathan Marsak (author of "Los Angeles Neon") raves, "Any new collection of Bunker Hill images would be an important find, but the scarcity of color images means historians will see the Hill with fresh eyes.  Of course the vibrant beauty and immediacy of Mann's work will lead new folk to the subject, further widening the scope of people who discover Los Angeles's lost acropolis," while Jim Dawson (author of "Los Angeles's Angels Flight") calls them, "A photographic trove of breathtaking new angles of Bunker Hill that brings its Victorian and early twentieth-century neighborhoods alive again."
 
And John H. Welborne, president of the Angels Flight Railway, notes, "The George Mann color photographs of Bunker Hill, like the colorful 1960s paintings by Leo Politi, record a now-lost neighborhood of classic architecture and diverse and interesting residents. In the post-1980s world, so many of these buildings and people would not have become the victims of 'urban renewal,' as happened in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, the best of the past more often can be incorporated into 'redevelopment.' But our original -- and real -- Bunker Hill is gone. Today, the little Angels Flight Railway, also well depicted by George Mann in his photographs, is all that remains."
 
To see George Mann's rediscovered Bunker Hill photographs and learn about his fascinating career that took him and his diminutive sidekick Dewey Barto (real-life pop of TV's "Rhoda's" mom Nancy Walker) from the stages of west coast vaudeville to the Great White Way, including a featured place in the smash show "Hellzapoppin'" and rare film of their act, visit the On Bunker Hill blog at  http://onbunkerhill.org/georgemann
 
Also featured in the blog post are film noir-style photographs of George Mann's model bride Barbara Bradford, and links to Mann's collection of historic theatre marquee photographs (many featuring his name) and stunning photos taken all across mid-century America and Europe.
 
ABOUT BUNKER HILL and the ON BUNKER HILL blog: Bunker Hill in the 1870s was early Los Angeles' most distinguished address, an enclave of grand Victorians, gorgeous gardens and clear-skied views out to Catalina and beyond. By the 1910s the wealthy had moved on, and the Hill's mansions became rooming houses. Up on the Hill, life moved at a different pace. Writers Raymond Chandler, John Fante and Charles Bukowski came and were captivated by the place. Painters Leo Politi, Kay Martin and Millard Sheets made its rotting hotels and sad-eyed residents the subject of their art. And down at City Hall, planners schemed about how Bunker Hill could be declared a slum, its old houses pulled down, its people moved along, leaving a blank slate where skyscrapers could grow. By 1970, Bunker Hill was a field of dirt. In 2008, the time travel bloggers of 1947project turned their attention to Bunker Hill. Over a year, the blog grew into a house-by-house survey of the great old downtown residential neighborhood that was demolished to create the high rise district that shares its name, but none of its charms. The blog's contributors, including authors, historians, librarians and tour guides, delved deep into historic archives to uncover the most fascinating tales of more than a century of life on Bunker Hill. 1947project is the brainchild of Kim Cooper, pop music historian ("Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth"), tour guide (Esotouric bus adventures) and  preservation activist (Save the 76 Ball). She was joined ON BUNKER HILL by author Nathan Marsak, LAPL history librarian Mary McCoy, Esotouric's Joan Renner, LAPL photo collections manager Christina Rice, Esotouric's Richard Schave and author John Toomey.
 
For more info about ON BUNKER HILL, please visit http://www.onbunkerhill.org
 
Explore Lost Downtown Los Angeles on these upcoming Esotouric bus adventures: Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice (September 11); Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles (November 6); The Lowdown on Downtown (August 28); The Real Black Dahlia (September 25). More info at http://www.esotouric.com
 
On Bunker Hill founder Kim Cooper and the blog's contributors including Nathan Marsak are available for interviews, as is historian Jim Dawson, John H. Welborne of Angels Flight Railway, and George Mann's archivist daughter-in-law Dianne Woods and his son Brad Smith. To schedule interviews, contact Kim Cooper, amscrayATgmailDOTcom, 323-223-2767.

For immediate release
 
August 26, 2010
 
L.A.'s hottest Yelp.com restaurant critic is a sassy Jewish grandma in Boyle Heights

LOS ANGELES- The online review site Yelp.com is a phenomenon, giving ordinary consumers the power to make or break the places where they spend their money. There are all kinds of Yelpers-- some just sign in to complain about rotten service, while others seem to review their lives away.

And Yelp's most lively section is the restaurant reviews, where constant diners distinguish themselves with original voices, offbeat discoveries and insightful feedback.

Among the most interesting and unique of these Yelp restaurant critics—honored with four citywide "Review of the Day" selections (including today's review of Little Tokyo homestyle favorite Issen Joki) and eagerly followed by dozens of fans—is Barbara "Cutie" Cooper, the 93-year-old Jewish grandma who, with her husband Harry, makes up L.A.'s oldest blogging couple, The OGs (which stands for "original grandparents" and is a play on "original gangsters").

Recently featured on The TODAY Show, NPR's All Things Considered, Column One of the Los Angeles Times, CNN, The Toronto Star, Glamour.com, Diddy's blog and Thai and Australian morning television, the OGs are America's oldest blogging sensations, with 6300 Facebook fans, 750+ Twitter followers and more than 110,000 viewers on their Youtube channel.

Barbara and Harry live at Hollenbeck Palms, the oldest retirement home in California, in historic Boyle Heights, just east of the L.A. River. By the time Barbara and Harry married in 1937, the Jewish community was fleeing the old neighborhood for points west, and they never expected to come back. But when their grandchildren were looking for the best place for them to live, nothing could compare to the not-for-profit Hollenbeck. And so these two 90-something west L.A. Jews came back to the old neighborhood—and grandma Barbara started her career as a food blogger, on Yelp and in occasional video blog entries at The OGs blog.

Barbara's tastes are simple, but she knows what she likes and isn't afraid to dole out criticism when deserved. Of downtown's hip fave BOTTEGA LOUIE, Barbara raves about the soufflé ("it's cheaper than Paris") but dings the slow service. She loves PHILIPPE THE ORIGINAL for the people-watching and juicy French Dip sandwiches, but the long lines inspire the suggestion that you "find a nice seat and make your grandkids wait in line for you." APPLEBEE'S is a guilty pleasure, where she loves the signature Riblets but suspects they might be made of rabbit parts. Of BEARD PAPA'S classic vanilla cream puff, she notes "It was good enough for Catherine de Medici and it should be good enough for you." And she loves ISSEN YOKI, today's Review of the Day, noting that she's never been a big fan of Japanese food, but a good sauce makes her  world go 'round.

For a feel-good family story with a an original twist, check out Barbara Cooper, the original grandparent food blogger and online advice columnnist, on Yelp and on the OGs blog. Next month, the OGs celebrate 73 years of marriage, and at 98 and 93 they're still going strong, enjoying Los Angeles, good eats and good adventures with their family and friends.

LINKS
http://barbaracooper.yelp.com/
http://www.the-ogs.com/

The OGs, Barbara and Harry Cooper, are available for interviews, and journalists on assignment can get a tour of their retirement community Hollenbeck Palms or go out restaurant reviewing with Barbara. Contact their granddaughter/publicist Kim at amscrayATgmailDOTcom, 323-223-2767.

For immediate release
 
August 23, 2010
 
Black Dahlia bus tour gets into the heads of the lonely girls of WW2 L.A.

WHAT: Esotouric's Real Black Dahlia Crime Bus Tour
WHEN: Saturday September 25, 12pm-4pm  
WHERE: Departing from The Millennium Biltmore Hotel, 5th & Olive, L.A.
FYI: Esotouric is the only tour company invited to begin its tours in the historic Biltmore Hotel. Despite the myths, the Biltmore was the actually second-to-last place Beth Short was seen alive; this tour goes to the real last spot as well.
COST: $58/person (15% off for KCRW or KPCC members)
INFO: http://www.esotouric.com, 323-223-2767
 
LOS ANGELES- On September 25, the eclectic bus adventure company Esotouric offers its most popular true crime tour, THE REAL BLACK DAHLIA.

Since January 1947, this one iconic murder mystery has lingered unsolved at the forefront of the American imagination, with dozens of books, films and websites dedicated to solving the slaying of Beth Short, the Massachusetts girl who came to Hollywood hoping to make it, and ended up cut in two in a vacant lot. Suspects in the Black Dahlia murder have included L.A. Times publisher Norman Chandler and Orson Welles, crazed lesbians, twisted drifters and more than one writer's father, but still the mystery abides.

The Real Black Dahlia tour dedicates itself to revealing who victim Elizabeth Short really was by exploring her life in Los Angeles from mid 1946 to her January 1947 murder through examination of the police investigation and news coverage. The various theories are up for discussion during the onboard Q&A sections, and the hosts share their idea of who the killer might have been, but the focus is firmly on the 22-year-old woman whose death continues to fascinate. Along the way, passengers will explore the social history of postwar Los Angeles and its lively downtown scene and learn the role the city played in Short's mysterious death.
 
The tour begins at the Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles, where Beth Short went after checking her bags at the Greyhound Terminal. Passengers will tour the beautifully restored hotel before heading south, to the low rent Olive Street bar where she met her murderer. The Downtown portion of the tour includes the Examiner newspaper offices, where the crime became myth as pioneering female City Editor Aggie Underwood spun the case for weeks, and the Figueroa Hotel, where Short stayed in happier times.
 
The bus then heads west towards Leimert Park and the formerly vacant lot where Short's bisected body was discovered on January 15, 1947. Also in this neighborhood, passengers visit the site of another unsolved 1947 kidnap-murder and the home of Dr. Walter Bayley, who has emerged in recent years as the most compelling suspect, with his personal ties to Beth Short's family and the crime scene, and the surgical skill needed to bisect the body. The tour includes a cop-approved snack stop for Krispy Kreme donuts near the body dump site.
 
Also featured: a special presentation from cosmetics historian Joan Renner exploring Beth Short's unusual proto-goth make up, so different from the popular girl next store look of 1947, and a key to understanding her psychology.
 
Passengers on this eye-opening and informative tour will leave with a new understanding of the Black Dahlia case and what it was like to be a single woman in 1940s Los Angeles. It is highly recommended for natives and newcomers, crime and history buffs and anyone who likes to seek out the unexpected.
 
Upcoming Esotouric bus tour and special event schedule
Sat Aug 28 - Reyner Banham Loves LA: The Lowdown on Downtown
Sun Aug 29 - LAVA Sunday Salon (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat Sept 11 - Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice crime bus tour
Sat Sept 18 - Pasadena Confidential crime bus tour
Sat Sept 25 - The Real Black Dahlia crime bus tour
Sat Oct 9 - The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's So. Cal Nightmare
Sat Oct 16 - John Buntin's L.A. Noir
Sun Oct 24 - CSULA crime lab tour (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat Oct 30 - Maja's Mysteries: Rapture & Release
Sat Nov 6 - Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles
Sun Nov 7 - CSULA crime lab tour (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat Nov 13 - Haunts of a Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski's L.A.
Sat Dec 4  - Pasadena Confidential with Crimebo the Clown
Sat Dec 11 - Eastside Babylon crime bus tour

Esotouric's Richard Schave, Kim Cooper and Joan Renner are proud members of LAVA - The Los Angeles Visionaries Association. http://www.lavatransforms.org

For more info on Esotouric, visit http://www.esotouric.com

For more on the Dr. Walter Bayley theory, visit Larry Harnisch's "Heaven is Here" website http://www.lmharnisch.com/
 
Tour hosts Kim Cooper, Richard Schave and Joan Renner are available for interviews, and journalists on assignment can often be accommodated on the Esotouric bus. Contact Kim at amscrayATgmailDOTcom, 323-223-2767.

For immediate release
 
August 20, 2010
 
Esotouric's Pasadena Confidential Crime Bus Tour Explores the Crown City's Dark Side
 
WHAT: Esotouric presents the Pasadena Confidential crime bus tour with Crimebo the Clown
WHEN: Saturday September 18, 12pm-4pm (tour repeats December 4)
COST: $58, which includes coffee and cookies  
WHERE: Departs from Fair Oaks and Arlington Street, South Pasadena.  
 
LOS ANGELES- On September 18 and again on December 4, Esotouric, the eclectic bus adventure company whose offbeat tours expose L.A.'s secret history, offers its popular, occasional Pasadena Confidential tour, a true crime bus adventure delving deep into the weird and horrible past of one of L.A.'s most exclusive suburbs. Making a special appearance on this tour: it's Crimebo the Crime Clown capering as only Crimebo can.
 
Tour guide Kim Cooper, who also researched and wrote the tour, says, "I believe every neighborhood gets the crimes it deserves, and Pasadena's dark side is suitably rife with rocket scientists driven mad by their work, wealthy eccentrics spoiling their pet chimps and bears, seemingly respectable families misbehaving behind tall hedges and a general air of genteel psychic decay."

Crime fiends will enjoy a four-hour guided luxury bus tour to the darkest recesses of Pasadena history, with vintage photos and film clips show to set the scene. From celebrated cases like the Robert Kennedy assassination (Sirhan Sirhan was a local Pasadena resident), "Eraserhead" star Jack Nance's strange end, black magician/rocket scientist Jack Parsons' death-by-misadventure and the 1926 Rose Parade grand stand collapse, to fascinating obscurities, the tour's multitude of murders, arsons, kidnappings, robberies, suicides, auto wrecks and oddball happenings provide an alternate history of Pasadena that's as fascinating as it is creepy.
 
Crime Bus passengers will tour the old Millionaire's Row on Orange Grove, boggle at the shocking Sphinx Murder on the steps of the downtown Masonic Hall, thrill to the misadventures of one very poorly-behaved (but beautifully dressed!) chimpanzee and discover why people named Judd and rocket scientists should think twice before moving to Pasadena. They'll also enjoy the offbeat charms of Crimebo the Crime Clown as he leads passengers out onto Suicide Bridge for a personal look down into the gorge that tempted dozens of tormented souls to their demise.
 
Riders on this eye-opening, funny and informative tour will forever see Pasadena in a new light. It is highly recommended for natives and newcomers alike, crime and history buffs and anyone who likes to seek out the unexpected.
 
Upcoming Esotouric bus tour and special event schedule
Sat Aug 28 - Reyner Banham Loves LA: The Lowdown on Downtown
Sun Aug 29 - LAVA Sunday Salon (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat Sept 11 - Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice crime bus tour
Sat Sept 18 - Pasadena Confidential crime bus tour
Sat Sept 25 - The Real Black Dahlia crime bus tour
Sat Oct 9 - The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's So. Cal Nightmare
Sat Oct 16 - John Buntin's L.A. Noir
Sun Oct 24 - CSULA crime lab tour (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat Oct 30 - Maja's Mysteries: Rapture & Release
Sat Nov 6 - Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles
Sat Nov 13 - Haunts of a Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski's L.A.
Sat Dec 4  - Pasadena Confidential with Crimebo the Clown
Sat Dec 11 - Eastside Babylon crime bus tour

For more info on Esotouric, visit http://www.esotouric.com
 
Esotouric's Richard Schave, Kim Cooper, Joan Renner and Crimebo the Clown (Michael Perrick) are proud members of LAVA - The Los Angeles Visionaries Association. http://www.lavatransforms.org

Tour hosts Kim Cooper, Richard Schave, Joan Renner and Crimebo the Clown are available for interviews. Contact Kim at amscrayATgmailDOTcom, 323-223-2767.

For immediate release
 
August 18, 2010
 
The Sexy, Weird and Bloody History of Downtown LA is Revealed in a Bus Tour

WHAT: Esotouric presents Hotel Horrors and Main Street Vice, a Downtown double-feature bus tour
WHEN: Saturday September 11, 12pm-4pm
COST: $58/person (15% off for KCRW or KPCC members)
WHERE: Departs from Cafe Metropol at 923 East 3rd Street, LA 90013, tour covers downtown LA's historic core
INFO: http://www.esotouric.com or call 323-223-2767
TOUR PHOTOS: http://flickr.com/photos/richardschave/sets/72157623986634614

LOS ANGELES- From the founding of the city through the 1940s, Downtown was the true center of Los Angeles, a lively, densely populated, exciting and sometimes dangerous place. After many quiet decades, Downtown is making an incredible return. But while many of the historic buildings remain, their stories have been lost.

That's why Esotouric, the eclectic bus adventure company whose tours reveal the secret history of L.A. through crime, culture, literature and architecture, is offering HOTEL HORRORS AND MAIN STREET VICE, a tour meant to bring alive the old ghosts and memories that cling to the streets and structures of the historic core.

The HOTEL HORRORS section of the tour is steeped in true crime and oddities, featuring some of the wildest, weirdest, goriest and most memorable happenings in historic hotels like the Alexandria, Hayward, Barclay, King Edward and Cecil. Join the tour and you'll step inside many of these legendary locales, and find out where Night Stalker Richard Ramirez slept, which hotel saw a visit from the Skid Row Slasher, and where two traveling chocolate salesmen laughed so hard they fell backwards out a window to their deaths. You'll also learn the truth about the myth that Beth "The Black Dahlia" Short was last seen alive at the Biltmore and explore the fiery curse that repeatedly leveled the St. George Hotel. Also included are some light hearted stories to help the blood and gore go down.

The MAIN STREET VICE section is a social history lesson celebrating the ribald, racy, raunchy old promenade where the better people simply did not travel, but kicks were had by all who did. Burlesque babes and dirty picture parlors, mummified western outlaws and old time tattoo parlors, wax museums and pawn brokers, "professors" offering sex lectures and magazine peddlers with nudie Marilyn Monroe calendars under the counter, sophisticated steak houses and nickel donut dives -- these were the pleasures and the people to be found along Main during the first half of the 20th century, a street that every Angeleno knew offered more (yet less) of what could be seen anywhere else. We'll visit the scenes of some more unforgettable debaucheries and share stories of crime, smut, passion and commerce.

Climb aboard for a time travel journey back to the downtown that's not there anymore, and the surprising number of gems that survive.

And if you're looking for offbeat L.A. history but can't wait to ride the Esotouric bus, there's plenty of good stuff online. In addition to this and other historic Los Angeles bus tours, Esotouric's team created the 1947project "time travel blog" series of alternate history websites, including In SRO Land ("lost lore of the historic core" at www.insroland.org), On Bunker Hill (www.onbunkerhill.org) and the original 1947project ("a crime a day" from 1947, 1927 and 1907 at www.1947project.com and 1947project.blogspot.com).

Upcoming Esotouric bus tour and special event schedule
Sat Aug 28 - Reyner Banham Loves LA: The Lowdown on Downtown
Sun Aug 29 - LAVA Sunday Salon (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat Sept 11 - Hotel Horrors & Main Street Vice crime bus tour
Sat Sept 18 - Pasadena Confidential crime bus tour
Sat Sept 25 - The Real Black Dahlia crime bus tour
Sat Oct 9 - The Birth of Noir: James M. Cain's So. Cal Nightmare
Sat Oct 16 - John Buntin's L.A. Noir
Sun Oct 24 - CSULA crime lab tour (info at lavatransforms.org)
Sat Oct 30 - Maja's Mysteries: Rapture & Release
Sat Nov 6 - Raymond Chandler's Los Angeles
Sat Nov 13 - Haunts of a Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowski's L.A.
Sat Dec 4  - Pasadena Confidential with Crimebo the Clown
Sat Dec 11 - Eastside Babylon crime bus tour

For more info on Esotouric, visit http://www.esotouric.com

Esotouric's Richard Schave and Kim Cooper are proud members of LAVA - The Los Angeles Visionaries Association. http://www.lavatransforms.org
 
Tour hosts Kim Cooper and Richard Schave are available for interviews, and journalists on assignment can often be accommodated on the Esotouric bus. Contact Kim at amscrayATgmailDOTcom, 323-223-2767.

For immediate release
 
August 16, 2010
 
Exclusive LAVA lecture welcomes the public into CSULA crime lab for a real-life CSI experience

WHAT: Professor Donald Johnson, in association with LAVA and Esotouric, presents a lecture and demonstration "The Science and Art of Forensic Investigations: Criminalistics from Test Tube to Testimony."
WHEN: Sunday, October 24, 1pm-4pm
WHERE: The Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center (Cal State L.A.), 1800 Paseo Rancho Castilla, Los Angeles, CA 90032
COST: $20 per person, pre-reservation and payment required
INFO/RESERVATIONS: http://lavatransforms.org/crimelab  

LOS ANGELES- Turn on the TV in 2010 and odds are good you'll see white lab coats, DNA swabs and magnified fingerprints on computer screens. CSI is hot stuff, in fictional series ("NCIS: Los Angeles," "Bones," "Dexter," "CSI") and documentary programming. But it's not often that the general public gets a chance to tour a real crime lab with the forensic investigators and educators who use its tools to solve crimes and develop new research strategies.

Leave it to LAVA (The Los Angeles Visionaries Association), the creative consortium launched in February by Richard Schave and Kim Cooper, the married couple whose Esotouric bus adventures have transformed the guided tour experience, to make a real-life CSI experience accessible to interested laypersons. Working closely with LAVA's newest Visionary member, Professor Donald Johnson, they've developed a special three-hour introduction to Cal State L.A.'s state-of-the-art Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center, presented through tours and short lectures from the scientists and educators who work there.

Space is very limited and pre-reservation required for this unprecedented opportunity to tour the crime lab, learn from working forensic investigators and educators, and discover the real art and science of crime scene investigation. A portion of the proceeds from this event supports the research of Criminalistics graduate students at Cal State Los Angeles.

"The Science and Art of Forensic Investigations: Criminalistics from Test Tube to Testimony" provides an insider’s view of the scientific investigation of crime, as  Criminalistics faculty and graduate students will share their knowledge and insight on the theory and practice of forensic science in our criminal justice system.  Attendees will also tour Cal State LA’s state-of the-art teaching and research facilities at the Hertzberg-Davis Forensic Science Center.

The afternoon begins with an introduction to the field of Criminalistics and the use of physical evidence in criminal investigations, hosted by Professors Donald Johnson and Katherine Roberts, followed by an overview of the academic and research programs in Criminalistics at Cal State LA. 

Then, attendees will be provided with additional insight on forensic methods during breakout sessions on Crime Scene Investigation, Forensic Chemistry, and Forensic Biology.  The CSI session, hosted by Donald Johnson and Katherine Scriven, highlights tools used by forensic specialists in the field and emerging technologies in CSI.  The Forensic Chemistry session, hosted by Katherine Roberts and Isaac Cheney, surveys methods used for the analysis of trace evidence and controlled substances, and current research will be presented on the development of methods to detect narcotic-tampering by health professionals.  The Forensic Biology session, hosted by Kristin Honig and Stacy Wilkinson, highlights body fluid and DNA analysis, with a presentation on current research on methods to improve the recovery of semen in rape cases. 

The afternoon concludes with a true life investigation overview regarding the murder of a family in Los Angeles County and opportunities to ask questions.  By the program's conclusion, attendees will have a basic understanding of the strengths and limitations of forensic methods used in criminal investigations, and a fresh perspective on the real art and science that takes place behind the scenes and the headlines.   

ABOUT LAVA: Through participation in LAVA, a select group of creative professionals come together to promote cultural programming that speaks to the urban experience while promoting positive public space. LAVA's creative partners share a love for L.A. and unique ideas for exploring it in their work.  Formed by social historians RICHARD SCHAVE and KIM COOPER -- proprietors of Esotouric bus adventures and until recently the Director and Curator of the Downtown Los Angeles Art Walk -- LAVA brings together L.A.'s most visionary promoters, artists, writers and thinkers. The first crop of Visionaries in the growing curated community includes cultural chronicler ADRIENNE CREW, artist and Eastside historian AL GUERRERO, Cacophony Society co-founder AL RIDENOUR, avant garde fashion maven A. LAURA BRODY, poet and publisher ALEIDA RODRIGUEZ, back-to-nature pioneer ALICIA BAY LAUREL, filmmaker and festival promoter ALLISON ANDERS, former Metropolitan Museum curator ALLON SCHOENER, designer/mom of Chicken Boy AMY INOUYE, custom tours maven ANNE BLOCK, documentarian and radio producer ANTHEA RAYMOND, pop culture historian BECKY EBENKAMP, ethnomusicologist BETO GONZALEZ, master puppeteer BOB BAKER, producer and promoter CHRISTIAN VOLTAIRE MEOLI, 826LA events manager CHRISTINA GALANTE, performance artist CRIMEBO THE CLOWN, the NEA's outgoing Director of Literature DAVID KIPEN, green sculptor DONALD GIALANELLA, forensic scientist Professor Donald Johnson, author and educator DOROTHY RANDALL GRAY, visual artist ELENA MARY SIFF, documentarian and exploitation film historian ELIJAH DRENNER, musician and performance artist FEATHERBEARD, photographer GARY LEONARD, pop critic and outsider artist GENE SCULATTI, film and fashion historian HALA PICKFORD, songsmith HARVEY SID FISHER, theater director HOLLY WITHAM, no-longer-Teenage Glutster food blogger JAVIER CABRAL, horror film director JEREMY KASTEN, musician and composer of silent film scores JIMI CABEZA DE VACA, social historian JOAN RENNER, journalist and author JOHN BUNTIN, Musso & Frank co-owner JORDAN JONES, performance artist JULES ROCHIELLE, curator and activist JULIE RICO, "Kristin's List" cultural chronicler KRISTIN BEDFORD, esoteric scholar and lecturer MAJA D'AOUST, author and broadcaster MANNY PACHECO, President of the new LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes MIGUEL ANGEL CORZO, poet and dancer MONA JEAN CEDAR, , theater director NICHOLAS HOSKING, L.A. Historic Theater Foundation rep NICK MATONAK, music producer and impresario NO'A WINTER LAZERUS, musician OCTAVIUS, peace activist PAUL NUGENT of the Aetherius Society, 3-D photography expert RAY 3D ZONE, historic ghost seeker RICHARD CARRADINE, filmmaker and preservationist ROSS LIPMAN, Boyle Heights ghost hunter SARAH TROOP, social networking mistress SHAWNA DAWSON, painter/gallerist SUSAN DOBAY, Warhol star and writer TERE TEREBA, metal artist TOM WALKER, and hat designer and multi-media artist YASMIN DIXON.

Applications from prospective LAVA members are being taken at http://lavatransforms.org/apply

To learn more about LAVA, please visit http://www.lavatransforms.org
 
LAVA founders Kim Cooper and Richard Schave, Professor Donald Johnson, and most of LAVA's Visionary members are available for interviews, and a very limited number of journalists on assignment can be accommodated at the event. Contact Kim at amscrayATgmailDOTcom, 323-223-2767.

For immediate release

August 9, 2010

25th Anniversary of the Capture of Night Stalker Richard Ramirez Serial Killer Tour

WHAT: The 25th anniversary of the 1985 capture of the serial killer Richard Ramirez "The Night Stalker" commemorated with guided walking and bus tour
WHEN: Sunday, August 29, 11am-4pm
COST: $25, advance reservations required
WHO: Hosted by Al Guerrero of Eastside Desmadre Tours, with Crimebo the Clown
CONTACT: Al Guerrero (323) 481-7258, alguerreroATearthlinkDOTnet
WEB LINK: http://nightstalkertour.blogspot.com/

LOS ANGELES - To commemorate the 1985 capture of the infamous Los Angeles serial killer Richard Ramirez, Eastside Desmadre Tours will conduct a guided tour to explore the former downtown Los Angeles haunts and dwellings of the "The Night Stalker". Included in the tour is a visit to the East L.A. street where he was captured, as well as interviews with local witnesses involved in his apprehension.
Special appearances by: Crimebo The Clown, and a shocking live incarnation of Richard Ramirez "Night Stalker, the Musical" Live street performances take place on various stops throughout the tour.

Exclusive Night Stalker 25th Anniversary memorabilia will be available only to all tour participants. Space on this once in a lifetime tour is very limited. Reservations are strongly advised. Tour packages: $25/per person. Reservations by email only.
     
Contact nightstalkertour@gmail.com. More information is provided at: http://nightstalkertour.blogspot.com/

The tour also wishes to thank author Philip Carlo, and his book "The Night Stalker, The Life and Crimes of Richard Ramirez" (www.philipcarlo.com) for his personal assistance and support in researching for the Night Stalker 25th Anniversary Tour. The tour also acknowledges the assistance of retired L.A. Sheriff Homicide Detective. Lt. Gil Carrillo, lead detective on the Night Stalker case for his invaluable assistance and revealing narratives detailing his first hand experience and face to face encounters with the Stalker.

"I worked three long years on the Night Stalker book... no one in this world knows more about this case than I do... For 14 months, Ramirez managed to slip in and out of people's homes, killing and raping at will. Nothing could stop him. He left no clues. He became, in the very real sense, our nightmare come true... Ironically, it was the police who saved the life of one of the most feared killers of the 20th century.... It was in fact the people, the Mexican community, that ultimately spotted Richard, identified and chased him down, and beat him furiously. Had the cops not come, they would have killed him. " -Philip Carlo, author

Participants will repare to embark upon a "street level" two-part tour of The Night Stalker's L.A. We will experience the gritty skid row area as Ramirez did over 25 years ago. This first walking portion of the tour will take us to the dark heart of L.A.'s urban jungle where anything can happen. From there, we will retrace his final steps to destiny and wild capture as we journey to the East Los Angeles portion of the tour. The tour will be blessed by an authentic "Bruja" (Mexican witch) practitioner of White Magic, to ensure safe passage and protection from Satanic forces.

Tour Highlights:
•    We will walk and explore by foot the very downtown L.A. streets that harbored the night stalker at the time of his arrival in Los Angeles from El Paso, Texas.

     Among the Night Stalker sites we will see in the downtown portion of the tour:
•    Hotels, drug corners, fences for stolen goods, liquor stores, prostitutes. The old Greyhound Bust station, the Hotel Cecil, The Alexandria Hotel, His favorite hang outs near 5th and Main.

•    For the transit portion of the tour, we will board public transportation towards the Eastside, and across the L.A. river, where we will relive the Night Stalker's final run from justice.
•    Follow the path of the Night Stalker's last steps, as we arrive at the actual street, largely unchanged today, that became Richard Ramirez' worst nightmare.
•    Meet and hear actual eye witnesses and participants including the deputy first to arrest the Night Stalker. Meet actual witnesses who have chosen to come forward and speak for this tour, some for the very first time.
•    Details and locations of Ramirez' haunts, hangouts and habits will be revealed.
•    The tour culminates at a popular local restaurant.
•    This tour involves walking and public transportation. As such, elements of unpredictability exist in this real urban setting. This tour may not be for everyone. By taking part in the tour, the participant agrees to absolve the organizers of the 25th anniversary Night Stalker Tour of any liability or damages suffered therein and or as a result of taking this tour.

Contact:
Al Guerrero
Director
Eastside Desmadre Tours
(323) 481-7258
alguerreroATearthlinkDOTnet
http://nightstalkertour.blogspot.com/      nightstalkertourATgmailDOTcom      eastsidedesmadretoursATyahooDOTcom       

For immediate release
 
August 6, 2010
 
Boyle Heights Book Summit with Councilman José Huizar, The OGs and Libros Schmibros proprietor David Kipen

LINK - http://the-ogs.com/councilman

LOS ANGELES- In this increasingly fractured city, is there one subject that can bring residents of all ages and ethnicities together to pledge their mutual support? Yes!

On Thursday, August 5, a most unusual multi-ethnic and multi-generation group -- Jewish and Mexican-American, aged 41 through 93 -- gathered at the Hollenbeck Palms retirement home in historic Boyle Heights to talk about their common passion for books, well-funded libraries and the vibrant community east of the L.A. River.

Inspired by Councilman José Huizar's lunch visit to her home at Hollenbeck Palms, the oldest retirement home in California and partner in the city's renovations of adjacent Hollenbeck Park, 93-year-old video blogger and SaveLAPL activist Barbara "Cutie" Cooper invited the Councilman to join her for a short discussion on the budget threats facing the Los Angeles Public Library.

The talk was moderated by recent Boyle Heights resident David Kipen, who has followed his run as head of Literature for the NEA by opening Libros Schmibros, a free lending library and bookstore a few blocks from Hollenbeck Park, at First and Cummings. His opening day was July 19, the first Monday when neighboring Benjamin Franklin Library was closed due to budget cuts.

In their seven-minute dialogue, viewable on The OGs popular blog, Barbara, José and David's congenial discussion ranges from the central role libraries played in keeping the Cooper and Huizar families happy, the Councilman's almost lone vote to preserve LAPL funding in the 2010 budget, Cutie's suggestion that children who want a puppy get a library card instead, what citizens can do to help get library funding back, and how independent projects like David Kipen's Libros Schmibros can provide a cultural buffer for communities when their libraries close.

Check out video from Barbara Cooper's Boyle Heights book summit, at
http://the-ogs.com/councilman

Visit Libros Schmibros online at
http://librosschmibros.com/

ABOUT THE OGs: Recently featured in Column One of the Los Angeles Times, on The TODAY Show, NPR's All Things Considered, CNN and Thai and Australian TV, The OGs video blog is a viral sensation with broad appeal. Barbara and Harry Cooper live at Hollenbeck Palms, the oldest retirement home in California, in historic Boyle Heights, just east of the L.A. River. By the time Barbara and Harry married in 1937, the Jewish community was fleeing the old neighborhood for points west, and they never expected to come back. But when their grandchildren were looking for the best place for them to live, nothing could compare to the not-for-profit Hollenbeck. And so these two 90-something west L.A. Jews came back to the old neighborhood—and grandma Barbara started her online career with husband Harry on The OGs blog, and her side career as one of Yelp.com's most popular food bloggers, with three coveted citywide Review of the Day honors.

ABOUT SAVELAPL: Launched in Spring 2008 in response to deep threatened budget cuts and a $1-per-book inter-branch loan fee, in just one month response to Kim Cooper and Richard Schave's SaveLAPL.org website convinced the L.A. City Council's Budget & Finance Committee to leave the Los Angeles Public Library alone. Now, with cuts resulting in Sunday and Monday branch closures and hundreds of firings, SaveLAPL is back online providing a 1-click email solution for sending messages of library support to Mayor Villaraigosa and all members of City Council.

For an unusual story about how books bring together Angelenoes of all ages and ethnicities, check out the Boyle Heights Book Summit video and Barbara and Harry Cooper, the original grandparent bloggers. They care about much more than just libraries, and Grandma Barbara loves to talk about how things would be different if she was in charge. Come visit and see for yourself.

Libros Schmibros founder David Kipen and The OGs, Barbara and Harry Cooper, are available for interviews, and journalists on assignment can get a tour of the OGs'  retirement community Hollenbeck Palms. Contact their granddaughter / publicist / SaveLAPL founder Kim at amscrayATgmailDOTcom, 323-223-2767.