“[This tour is] a poetic journey full of rare insight into the life of a man whoâ€s come to represent the ghettoized contingency of the City of Angels.” – Tanja M. Laden, Flavorpill

“Haunts of a Dirty Old Man: Charles Bukowskiâ€s LA” focuses on Bukowskiâ€s great passions: writing, screwing and Los Angeles. Weâ€ll take in the canonical locations of his life and myth: the Postal Annex Terminal where he gathered the material for “Post Office,” the De Longpre apartment where he briefly experimented with marriage and fatherhood, one of his favorite bars and liquor stores, and many other spots. Along the way, weâ€ll explore the people and ideas that made up the warp and weft of Bukâ€s rich inner life. This Esotouric bus adventure is hosted by Richard Schave and spans Bukowskiâ€s personal city, from Skid Row to once-genteel Crown Hill, to Bukowskiâ€s favorite East Hollywood liquor store, the Pink Elephant.

In honor of this tour and Bukowskiâ€s poem Bluebird, cartoonist Tony Millionaire has created The Bukbird, a pale blue version of his beloved alcoholic crow character. The Bukbird is available on T-shirts and fine art prints by plasticmuse.

Featured cases from co-host Kim Cooperâ€s crime notebook include the Capitol Records car pool slaying, the fake true crime magazine photographer / real serial killer Harvey Glatman and a fascinating and terrible tale of death by hypnotic suggestion.

No, you wonâ€t see the stars†homes or hear about their latest real estate deals, but weâ€ll show you where some colorful characters breathed their last, got into trouble that defined the rest of their lives and came up with ideas that the world is still talking about. So for unforgettable stories you wonâ€t hear on anyone elseâ€s Hollywood tour, climb aboard and discover the secret heart of the city we love. Tour stops include Cross Roads of the World (Robert V. Derrah, 1936), and the sites of the legendary Garden of Allah hotel and Schwabâ€s Drugstore.

Originally offered in Esotouricâ€s 2008-2009 seasons, this newly revived crime bus tour spotlights some of the weirdest, most horrific and downright unbelievable crimes of historic West Los Angeles, Venice and Santa Monica. Youâ€ll thrill and shudder to tales of teenaged terrors, tortured tots, wicked wives, evil spirits, cults, creeps and assorted maniacs.

Get on the bus to meet Weird Ward, the boy husband of the nefarious cult leader who compelled her followers to carry her departed victims all across 1920s L.A., and the peculiar Helen Love, who nearly escaped justice when she willed herself into a coma during her very odd murder trial. Along the Venice shore, youâ€ll see where a pair of real life witches tortured their own Hansels and Gretels as neighbors pretended not to hear the tots†cries, and marvel at the grand hotel that was formally a flop house for ex-junkies in the Synanon Cult. Come discover the real and terrible history of L.A.‘s westside, on a tour so wild, we had to say it twice.

There are even some celebrity sites along the route, including the death scenes of Motown soul sensation Marvin Gaye and 1920s star Angels baseball catcher Gus Sandberg. And the architecture too is to die for, as the Crime Bus rolls down the elegant streets of old West Adams, lined with gay mansions, adorable bungalows and signs of a centuryâ€s decay which only enhance the neighborhoodâ€s charm.

The tour also offers an overview of the neighborhoodâ€s many early subdivisions, and a groundbreaking court case that helped end housing discrimination nationwide.

Passengers on this eye-opening, funny and informative tour will forever see the West Adams district 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.

ABOUT THIS EVENT:

LAVA – The Los Angeles Visionaries Association is pleased to announce a free roof-top screening of a newly-discovered circa 1949 short color film of Main Street and other downtown Los Angeles locations, the Union Rescue Mission-produced Of Scrap & Steel. The screening is in conjunction with a series of downtown stories on the In SRO Land time travel blog, featuring material from the Union Rescue Mission Archives.

ABOUT THE FILM: In mid-1948 the Board of Directors of the Union Rescue Mission approved the expenditure of $5,000 to make the 30-minute film Of Scrap & Steel which portrays the redemption and good works of Arthur Hawkins, an alcoholic executive who ended up on the streets of Los Angeles and whose life was saved when he turned to the URM for help. Porter Hall (Arthur Hawkins) is one of only two actors in a film otherwise populated by real Los Angeles characters. (You may recall Hallâ€s performance as the pesky guy on the train in Double Indemnity.)

Of Scrap & Steel was only shown in screenings organized by the URM or related organizations, and would have been completely lost if Liz Mooradian, URM historian, had not saved a deteriorating 16mm print and had it transferred to video before it was too late. Of Scrap & Steel is just one of the remarkable artifacts discovered in the Union Rescue Mission archives and explored in the In SRO Land blog.

This entertaining and powerful short film is a compelling snapshot of life on Skid Row (Main Street) circa 1949, and a fascinating document of the important work that the URM continues to do with the most needy in the community. Although downtown Los Angeles features in numerous noir films, it is extremely rare to see color images of eastern downtown, and rarer still to see full-color live-action footage of the vibrant street scene that included rescue missions, pawn shops, amusement parlors, bars, restaurants and the ever-patrolling paddy wagon in search of drunkards to haul away to jail or County work crews.

This free rooftop screening is jointly organized by LAVA–The Los Angeles Visionaries Association, the In SRO Land time travel blog and the Union Rescue Mission. Attendees are encouraged to dress warmly for the cool night air. Refreshments will be provided compliments of URM.

This screening is held in conjunction with the Skid Row Walking Tour, a separate free event beginning two hours before the screening. Separate registration for each event is required if you wish to attend both the screening and walking tour.

Nearest Metro station is Little Tokyo.

Limited free parking is available at the URMâ€s underground parking lot. Just tell the attendant you are there for the film. Please carpool: if each guest arrives with one other person in their car, there should be enough parking for all. Those arriving later will have to leave their keys with the parking attendant.

In addition, there will be overflow parking in the San Julian parking lot located just behind the URM, on San Julian Street between 5th & 6th Streets, on the east side of the street, adjacent to URM. Registered attendees will be able to enter the URM from the Womenâ€s entrance on San Julian. There will be ample staff to direct you from the lot to this entrance.

In the event of rain, we will screen the film in the Chapel.

Schedule

6pm – Doors open (reserved guests check in at the main entrance and are sent up to the roof)

7pm-7.30pm – Refreshments served compliments of the URM. Guests can watch the sunset (7:45pm)

7.30pm – 8pm – Rev. Andy Bales (URM), Richard Schave (Esotouric) and Prof. Paul Rood (BIOLA) will introduce the film in the context of the neighborhoodâ€s history, and their work on the In SRO Land time travel blog, and a brief introduction to the life and legacy of the URM‘s founder, Lyman Stewart.

8pm – Film screening

8.30pm – Q & A 

9pm – Event ends

Please use the form on the left to register for this event. No “Plus Ones.”

ABOUT THIS EVENT:

Please join Richard Schave of Esotouric, Prof. Paul Rood of BIOLA and Rev. Andy Bales of the Union Rescue Mission (URM) for a 90-minute walking tour along the historic paths that have delineated Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles. This tour derives from the ongoing 1947project In SRO Land blog series that uses the archives of the URM (founded 1891) as a tool for exploring the social and architectural history of the forgotten people and places of Downtown Los Angeles.

The tour begins with a survey of the early history of the outreach by the URM through its gospel wagon and at two now-lost buildings: the original home at 145 N. Main (now City Hall Lawn) and the long-time location at 226 S. Main (now a parking lot next to the former St. Vibianaâ€s Cathedral).

The main themes will be the evolution of public policy on Skid Row from the private philanthropy of Lyman Stewart to todayâ€s Continuum of Care, the transformative work of the URM, and the architectural history of the neighborhood.

The route will include Main Street between 2nd and 3rd Streets (for a then/now comparison of the surviving and demolished locations featured in the 1949 URM-financed short film Of Scrap & Steel, which will be screened later in the evening in a free event that requires a separate reservation). At 3rd and San Pedro Streets we will discuss the Azusa Street Revival, a transformative event in the spiritual history of Los Angeles and the West. During the walk back to the current home of the URM, Rev. Andy Bales will talk about issues and challenges facing the neighborhood and the URM today.

The rendezvous point for the tour is the URM‘s headquarters at at 6th and San Pedro Streets. A free shuttle bus will take tour attendees to 2nd and Main Streets, where the walking tour begins. Registration is required, and each attendee must register separately, to ensure sufficient seating on the shuttle bus.

Parking is available at the URMâ€s underground parking lot for registered attendees. Just tell the attendent you are there for the walking tour. If everyone attending arrives with one other person in their car, there should be enough parking for all. Those arriving latter will have to leave their keys with the parking attendent.

Nearest Metro station is Little Tokyo.

To buy a ticket for this 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 afternoonâ€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: V is for Vice

Mike Fratantoni, an LASD Jailer who sits on the board of the Los Angeles County Sheriffâ€s Museum and is organizing the new exhibition space in the Hall of Justice, makes a return engagement with a fascinating presentation on the unwritten history of vice in West Hollywood and corruption in law enforcement.

In 1940, West Hollywood madam Lee Francis was arrested on a morals charge, her first. Media coverage of the subsequent trial exposed the thriving trade in sin along the Sunset Strip, and had southland husbands quaking in their socks. But the papers never printed the name of one prostitute arrested in the “House of Francis” raid: LaVonne Weaver, soon-to-be wife of gang kingpin Mickey Cohen. For decades, mob historians have chased down rumors that “dance instructor” Lavonne was actually a “working girl.” Wonder no more, as in a LAVA exclusive, LaVonne Weaverâ€s mugshot will be unveiled. Lee Francis had a reputation, but madam Brenda Allen was an underworld superstar, as famous for her wardrobe and high-powered social connections as she was for the services available at her hillside brothel. Her 1948 arrest and subsequent Grand Jury investigation revealed deep veins of corruption within the Los Angeles Police Department.

Presentation #2: Beverly Hills Confidential

Clark Fogg, the lead forensics investigator at the Beverly Hills Police Department, and investigative journalist Barbara Schroeder share the sensational crimes and scandals of the glamorous city of Beverly Hills, as chronicled in their book “Beverly Hills Confidential: A Century of Stars, Scandals and Murders.”

Featured topics include:

The cityâ€s first blockbuster scandal — the Doheny murder mystery at Greystone Mansion — New information on who really killed gangster Bugsy Siegel — The true story of the death of Lupe Velez, the movie star known as “The Mexican Spitfire” — The mysterious execution of publicist-to-the-stars Ronni Chasen

Copies of “Beverly Hills Confidential” will be available for purchase and signing during the event.

Mr. Hughes will discuss the political and social issues that animated the Watts neighborhood in 1965, the true locational boundaries of the uprisings, the locations of low income housing projects in the area, such as Nickerson Gardens and Jordan Downs, and the factors that triggered the riots. Participants shall visit sites important to the Southern California African American experience like the 5-4 Ballroom, a venue favored by musical legend, Johnny Otis.

* Purchase tickets HERE

How did this East Coat sophisticate go from managing editor of “The New Yorker” to populist novelist accused of writing dirty books? Esotouric’s tour explores Cainâ€s L.A. from Hollywood to Glendale and along old Route 66, and includes illuminating visits to Forest Lawn Memorial Park (a Glendale institution and site of the funeral of Mildred Pierceâ€s “other” daughter, Ray), the Glendale Train Station where the “Double Indemnity” murder plot played out, and the punch line to a Billy Wilder joke so subtle, itâ€s taken 63 years for anyone to get. The tour will also cover the artisans who transformed Cainâ€s tales into film, including Billy Wilder, Raymond Chandler, Joan Crawford and Lana Turner, each an important contributor to the Film Noir canon.