BUSINESS , restaurant review:
great wall gets a revisit from daily news' larry lipson, whose stature is rare and work is well done. a disclaimer: he's another newspaper friend of mine and he likes to keep anonymous, so if there's anyone i'm not talking to at a restaurant ... it could well be him.

tho' it's fair to quibble:
Downtown Reseda is not exactly known as a culinary mecca, but smack in the heart of the community on Sherman Way sits the Great Wall, a Chinese restaurant with a somewhat palatial interior.

it's not exactly a culinary bypass either. more to follow.

BON VOYAGE, high school principal:
robert kladifko has had good times and bad heading reseda high for 15 years. from the story, some of the bad:
Last month, junior Tulsi Kumar and four family members were killed in a house fire that police believe was intentionally set.

In 1996, senior Eric Hoggatt made a dozen or so tackles in a school football game, went home and climbed into bed. He never woke up. A head injury had caused a fatal buildup of blood in his skull. In 1993, senior Michael Ensley was shot and killed as he walked down a school hallway.

class of '00 valedictorian crystal sift, 1st generation american with parents from thailand, is quoted in this los angeles magazine article, on page 7. same year, araseli arellano earned a scholarship that is reported

a web search finds USA Today, dateline reseda, on 1-19-94, by Dennis Kelly
Partial Text: Charlie Calderon made his mark - spray painting his nickname, 'Koin' on the bathroom wall at Reseda High School in Southern California. But he got caught because someone saw him - someone inspired to turn him in because Reseda High School rewards kids who snitch on lawbreakers with $25 cash. It cost Calderon, or more precisely, his parents, $150 ...

LANDMARK, architecture:
another l.a.-area home by lloyd wright, son of frank, brought oohs and aahs-- 2nd item. reseda has a home designed by him also

EX-VALLEY, now in new york:
a quick surf around some of these blog sites finds them to be fairly self-absorbed and crazy with cross-linking between friends. resedaweb.blog isn't like that, except for now: my friend amy langfield lives in new york and reading this post on her blog assessing a post 9/11 city is as fine a use of the next 10 minutes of your day as most anything else.

and since this blog is dedicated to ''all things reseda" and there isn't any real connection between her, there, and us, here... i'll invent one: when she talks about the white horse tavern, it's not to be confused with this place, now gone.

KUDOS, high school sports:
it was quite a run at cleveland high, according to this roundup,

GIRLS, SOFTBALL, CITY SECTION, Invitational: Reseda Cleveland
TRACK AND FIELD, CITY SECTION, GIRLS, TEAM, Reseda Cleveland; INDIVIDUAL, 100: Michelle Stinnette, Reseda Cleveland, 200: Michelle Stinnette, Reseda Cleveland, 400: (l.a. times had no 1st name) Hubbert, Reseda Cleveland, 100 HH: Brynne Steward, Reseda Cleveland, 300 LH: Brynne Steward, Reseda Cleveland, 400 Relay: Reseda Cleveland.

not to mention the baseball team, and the swim team too had a good year

WEB LOGS, secession etc:
daily news' mariel garza takes a peek at blogs, secession blogs specifically (secession fever and how blog is my valley) and valley blogs (like politics in the zeros and this one) by extension. matt welch is quoted: "That there's a Reseda blog, I think, speaks for itself." a pioneer of sorts among these web journal posting sites called blogs, welch has spoken highly of this site before.

additional info beyond the newspaper feature:

we have submitted our application and the next major step is preparing for elections while we wait. the meetings are the 3rd mon of each month. currently, we meet at the nuevo empezar inglesia cristina, on sherman way, the former country club nightclub.

and this blog is to get attention for the reseda neighborhood council, not exactly a "forum" for the reseda neighborhood council, find one of those and other related information here.

KUDOS, retiring teacher: ~~~~ link fixed ~~~~
carol sue palmer retires today after 44 years of teaching 1st graders in room 13 (an earlier post here), and the classroom itself is leaving the 1st grade too:
When school reopens in September, Room 13 will be home to a different teacher and different students -- fourth-graders.

"Room 13 will never be a first-grade classroom again; you cannot replace that type of enthusiasm and dedication that she's had for teaching," Principal Teri Cooke said. "Her footsteps are a little hard to walk in."

LANDMARK, neighborhood watch & neighborhood council:
barbara adams writes about the july 11 (yes, thurs july 11) potluck picnic at her landmark home on tampa ave. in reseda: ".... a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Landmark No. 629. The Adams family built the house themselves to plans by Lloyd Wright, the son of the famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright (also this link). Lloyd was as accomplished a designer as the "old man", but was much less flamboyant or publicity-seeking, so is not as well known, although many of his Southern California projects are -- among them, the Hollywood Bowl(s) and the glass structure Wayfarer's Chapel in Palos Verdes (see these photos, or these, or these; it's in demand for weddings).
The home has remained in the Adams family since its construction in 1939, so much historical background remains available. Barbara Adams, the present resident, gladly gives tours and shares old photos, historical information, and even shows off the original blueprints. The house is tiny - 26'x26' and was built to the strict budget requirements of the depression era. The delight is in discovering how such a small space works so well. Two bedrooms in that space? Hah! "

KUDOS, graduating seniors:
from the daily news,
"...San Fernando Valley high school seniors received $1,500 each at the 53rd annual Scholarship Awards sponsored by Valley University Women." among them were: "... Alex Filler of Reseda High; Rebecca Ann Pedinoff of Cleveland High School in Reseda, ... "

POP CULTURE, music:
maybe if there were a freeway running thru the yard in reseda, tom petty could find his way to booking a concert date nearby. aol member pre-sale dates list these stops on the upcoming leg of a national tour. total stops announced so far in the entire southwest u.s., 4: chula vista (san diego area), reno, marysville (sacramento area) and concord (bay area).

CROSSROADS, afghanistan to reseda:
"Southern California Afghans finally elected 10 area representatives--a group diverse in age, gender, ethnic background and political ideology--who will be part of a national 40-member council of Afghan Americans."
yasin mohammad noorzay of reseda is named as one of those 10. another afghan/valley story

SECESSION, reseda's day in the sun:
tho' it's fair to think this blog is a booster, but steve harvey sure sees the light... "I read where Shakespeare Festival/LA will stage "Romeo and Juliet" in Pershing Square next month, but I'm not sure I'll attend. For me, the tragedy would only stir depressing thoughts of another doomed romance--the one between the San Fernando Valley and the rest of L.A.

Like Romeo, I can only sigh and say: "But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Reseda is the sun!"

reseda is the sun, they wouldn't print it if it wasn't true.

POP CULTURE, pop music:
again, l.a. times columnist steve harvey gets reseda, and this blogsite, in his sights. pegged on a remark in here, he calls attention to the post about music that includes reseda, however tangentially. the same entry brought an email, mentioning the storied country club and be bop records.
from the times:
"Valley History 101: After setting me straight about all the movies linked to the community, the Web site resedaweb.blogspot.com now has a feature on pop songs containing a local reference.

In the Frank Zappa song "Dummy Up," for instance, an un-hip character is asked: "Where you been livin'? Reseda?" (Zappa, by the way, attended Antelope Valley High.) Then, of course, there's the lyric by Tom Petty in "Free Fallin": "It's a long day living in Reseda/There's a freeway running through the yard." In case you haven't driven out that way lately, the Reseda Web site says, "There's still no freeway nearby." "

again, thank you steve. it's obvious, as he writes "now has a feature," it's not as if there will be a song a week or anything. that's all there is. i'd be happy to discover more, but my expectations are low. good thing this isn't about northridge... are there any northridge songs out there? northridge would have to have different details, be about different things, like the '94 earthquake. oh, wait... that was in reseda too. yet this map (note the red stickpin graphic) puts the coordinates for the '94 quake somewhere east of the hollywood sign. returning to gratuitious movie references: in the sci-fi comedy "evolution" (not filmed in reseda), the women's volleyball coach/community college geology professor says "geology is not an exact science." seems that may not have been a joke.

POP CULTURE, reminiscing:
an email from reseda native DeliTCat has her recalling: "Merle Haggard and Kinky Friedman at the County Club before the urban cowboy pop country thing went bust" and establishes her reseda ''creds'' by knowing that before, the country club was a sav-on drug store. "One piece of movie trivia you want to add is that the exteriors of the house Wayne lived in in the first "Wayne's World" movie was shot at a house on Texhoma between Hart and Enadia Way." that imdb.com (a movie database site) doesn't mention reseda isn't surprising, as it only lists 21 movies specifically filmed in the valley... which wouldn't be 1 month's tally. she notes it's not "technically" reseda. for a place with boundaries as fluid as poland, it was once undoubtedly reseda. tho now a silverlake resident, she"loved hanging out with Richard and Rene when they ran Be Bop Records. My favorite band that played there was the Victor Banana."

EVENT, summer hoops camp:
there's some shameless basketball played by the harlem globetrotters, but their youth basketball camp at cleveland high july 15-19 will likely be a showy lesson in fundamentals. cost is $ 175. (818) 592-5372.

POP CULTURE, cinema:
Reseda gets its props, so to speak. steve harvey's only in l.a. column sets the record straight, on 6-8, regarding this post.
" Reseda fights back: The Web site Resedaweb.blogspot.com accused me of neglect when a recent column mentioned just one movie ("The Karate Kid") that referred to that storied community.

The site placed Reseda in the background of such films as "Erin Brockovich" and "Boogie Nights" (the porn industry epic), as well as two of my favorites: "Severed Arm" ("bad thriller uses establishing shot of Reseda post office") and "Fast Sofa" ("Crispin Glover freaks out in discount bird store")."

thanks steve

ADDENDUM, shivaree:
the album may only be coming out this week in the UK, because preordering seems only possible through the tower records site for britain.... and that name, it's also the title of an interlude in "paint your wagon" part of a title for lite jazz saxophonist grover washington jr and a punky tune by the dirtbombs, click thru to listen.

ADDENDUM, "erin brockovich":
her real-life ex-boss ed masry has had a relatively high-profile time since the movie, last week he was found to be a slanderer but not a sexual harasser. story mentions the movie (he had a cameo) but not his new city council career in thousand oaks. his son's a candidate in moorpark.

KUDOS, teacher of the year:
steven hines of reseda high school was among those named a teacher of the year by the encino chamber and time warner cable, reports the daily news.

CITY GOVT, lapd:
from the dennis mccarthy column of 6-7, for the lapd division in reseda: "The Los Angeles Police Department's West Valley Boosters -- a community support group that provides West Valley Division officers with equipment like digital cameras and computers not provided by the city -- is having its fourth annual golf tournament June 28 at The Cascades Golf Club in Sylmar.

Even if you're not a golfer or cannot play that day, you can be part of this fund-raiser by becoming an adopt-a-cop sponsor, says Ellie Vargas, president of the Boosters organization.

For entry fee information call the West Valley Division Community Relations office at (818) 756-8406. "

and this traffic safety advice comes from the west valley's senior lead officer by way of the encino chamber's site.

KUDOS, resedaweb.blog:
blogmeister matt welch predicts, that in a year, all of l.a.'s neighborhoods will have blogs dedicated to them, citing this one as an example. thanks matt.

POP CULTURE, music:
the new album comes out next week from the band shivaree, singer is a reseda native, although there's no telling if the title of their '99 album refers to that. you can't get much hipper than kcrw live performances (3-23-00 --where the singer weaves tales about reseda expressly--, 12-5-99, 3-17-01, 11-4-00) and here you can listen and see other webcasts or see their video for ''goodnight moon''... a hit of sorts.

this story highlights their singer, ambrosia parsley, being a reseda native. maybe you had seen one of these folks in the grocery store, once one lived nearby. what about that name? in '64 it was also the name of a tv show with the late radio dj gene weed (l.a. radio trivia buffs know he signed off the music programming on now all-news KFWB in 1968. Pic there from the '90s, contrasts with this one which accompanies a unique anecdote of l.a. radio)

but reseda has an even wider pop music history, even more than tom petty (previously mentioned below) and his song "free fallin". there's still no freeway nearby.

the band soul coughing mentions reseda in song "screenwriter's blues" on "ruby vroom". band founder mike doughty plays the troubador june 17, but you'll all be at the reseda neighborhood council meeting,
instead. doughty used to work at the famous n.y. club the knitting factory, but he's not playing their l.a. venue.

frank zappa's singer in "dummy up" from the live album "roxy & elsewhere" asks a particularly unhip character ''where you been livin'? reseda?''

fans of captain beefheart (the one-time zappa sideman was born in glendale) have a dialogue on whether or not he refers to reseda in a song from the cult masterpiece "trout mask replica" from '69. the consensus there, is that he does.

this awesome fansite for the ventures, comes out of reseda and among other things has this tidbit: "During the 60's, the Ventures outsold the Beatles in Japan 2 to 1."

once a student at the cleveland high humanities magnet, eleni mandell, with 3 albums and backing vocal work with l.a.-club regular chuck e. weiss, talks about playing music in l.a.

not to mention the bands who've played at the now-defunct country club (host to U2's 1st l.a.-area show) and be bop records. more on that later.

RESEDA NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL, general meeting:
June 17, 7pm, Iglesia Cristiana Nuevo Empezar at 18419 Sherman Way, the former Country Club

REARVIEW, agriculture:
"Packed and Shipped by the Reseda Citrus Growers Assn." back when tarzana was a brand name.

canoga park citrus growers chose to go with a freaky kinda clown and a dubiously un-chumash looking native american indian from back when the area was called owensmouth, named after the lake whose water came by aqueduct into sylmar, which was no doubt close enough for land speculators to convey there'd be water there too.

KUDOS, team sports:
cleveland high baseball team are city champs.
"Byron Grubman couldn't match the no-hit performance of Bret Saberhagen in Cleveland of Reseda's last appearance in the City baseball final in 1982, but Grubman did become the first since Saberhagen to pitch a shutout in the City baseball final."

game coverage here too, or use this link

stars align to assure win or use this link

nice photo by david sprague

20 years later, lightning & pitchers strike again. or use this link.

sylmar's pitcher had a good game too

RESEDA/CARES, lokrantz:
a dennis mccarthy column lokrantz elementary, a special ed school, works with the jewish home for the aging to the benefit of both.
for the time being, follow this link

CROSSROADS, afghanistan to the valley:
not reseda, but speaking to the diversity that is reseda. in this story of 5 afghan sisters graduating this month from pierce college:
"They're really phenomenal," said Richard Follett, professor of English at Pierce College. "They're all very bright, very energetic and very persistent."
...
"I taught at the University of Michigan and the University of Miami, and what you get there is a homogenous age range of 18 to 21 or 22 and people who can say things very well but don't always have a great deal to say," Follett said.
"Here we have people with tremendous life stories to tell, but (they) have a few grammatical and structural problems -- but those we can take care of."

POP CULTURE, movies update:
larry bowman writes to say he's is under the impression that the ''T2'' chase scene (see may 30 post) was along the L.A. river wash near tampa... of course, still in reseda.

SECESSION, coverage update:
this letter writer says she was a daily news reporter (that i don't know of her isn't remarkable, by the way), who says daily news managing editor ron kaye isn't responsible for the attention valley secession is creating.

i think she's either naive, delusional, misinformed, unknowing or just not telling the truth. having been in the newsroom with the people involved, i cannot believe the assertion (made by kaye's former boss) that ''there would be no secession movement without kaye" is disputable in any way by anyone in a position to judge. it seems incontravertible.

RESEDA NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL, bylaws:
the proposed bylaws currently live in the document queue at the clubsite

L.A. CITY GOVT, neighborhood councils:
one man's visit to a neighborhood council meeting shows the worst side of amateur volunteer politics

KUDOS, teacher retires
After 44 years, june 21 will be last day of work in room 13 for carolyn sue palmer
"Through more than four decades, hundreds of 6- and 7-year-olds have learned to read, write, add and subtract with her help."

last year when photo teacher warren king retired from reseda high, a web page was created in tribute and for his students' work. story on the site in professional phtographers assoc news archive, 4th item down

KUDOS, team sports:
cleveland high baseball has hustled its way into the city finals at dodger stadium after swatting chatsworth for the 4th time this season.
"The No. 15-seeded Cavaliers' 4-0 victory over the defending champions on Thursday in the City semifinals at Pierce College was convincing and unequivocal."
... "Chatsworth was ranked No. 1 in the nation after a 19-0 start. Then the Chancellors lost five of their next nine games, including three to Cleveland. "
columnist eric sondheimer hails the reseda pitcher byron grubman, who reminds him of bret saberhagen-- a cleveland high pitcher who pitched a perfect game in the city finals 20 year ago.

the game will be on tv tuesday.

SECESSION, news coverage:
the times exposes flaws in its own and the daily news's coverage of the secession issue until now; those stories are discussed on the clubsite, this anti-ish secession news blog, this pro-secession blog and a widely-read political commentary blog ), which comments on the spreading web-log (hence the term "blog") phenomenon, makes note of this a-here blog too, on may 31.