The Driving Thread

After leaving Warren and driving through Paramount, once the home of a killer football program under Ken Sutch, who graduated from Millikan, I saw a street sign for South Gate ...



... which made me think of a few things.

1, I can't believe South Gate has 100,000 residents. That's a lot of people. Always thought it was a small little town.

2, Pete Ellis Dodge, Long Beach Freeway, Firestone exit, South Gate!

Such a memorable rolling avatar of '80s L.A. car dealer jingling.

3, In 1989, still in my first year at the P-T, I covered an L.A. City Section playoff game at South Gate High -- the Rams -- which 18-year-old me found odd because we didn't really cover the City Section in person except for when Banning and Carson played, when that rivalry was as intense as Ike-Fontana. South Gate wasn't really our coverage area on a day to day basis and I'm struggling to remember why I would have covered that game unless South Gate was playing San Pedro, which is possible. It's possible that one of the reasons I was sent there -- maybe THE reason -- is because South Gate had a stud running back by the name of Ivan Wilson.

Edit: It's even possible I was stringing the game for the L.A. Times as South Gate was defending 3A City champion.

Pretty sure South Gate won this playoff game. It's the only time I covered the South Gate Rams.

Did some cursory Googling and found a link to Ivan with his career highlights:

-- Class of 1990

-- 1988 3A City Player of the Year, 1,974 yards, 23 touchdowns, Member of the 14-0 1988 3A City Section Champions

-- 1989 3A 1st Team All-City, L.A Times 2nd Team All-Southeast Area, 1st Team All-Southeastern Conference, 1989 L.A. Times Southeast prep Back of the Year, 1989 All-Central League. Rushed for 1,290 and 19 touchdowns. Member of the Rams’ 26-undefeated streak (1988-1989)

-- Recruited by UCLA, Nebraska, USC, California, and Washington

-- In 1990 he broke for a 71-yard TD in his first game for the Warriors, breaking a school record.

-- Member of the El Camino College 1990 State Champions.

-- Sat out the 1991 season due to injury.

-- In 1992 he set a Mission League record with 6 touchdowns, tying a then-state record, shared with O.J. Simpson. First Team All-Mission Conference

-- Signed to play for Sonoma State

Started to get lost down the YouTube rabbit holes.

But this wasn't about South Gate High football (or multi-talented South Gate TV sportscaster Jim Watson) so I kept driving.

As mentioned, was about to eat at Velma's but then Florence came on the radio and I closed the door, started the engine, drove away.

Now, to address this ...

... maybe Adele did lap Florence long ago but Adele still ain't come close to what Florence did on Lungs.

Dog Days is better than anything Adele has done.

Hurricane Drunk is better than anything Adele has done.

And Adele's best moment won't come within a thousand galaxies of this ...

Anyway, I was about done with South Gate, strayed onto Alondra Boulevard, and approached an overpass with this sign touting SJ SoCal's favorite freeway:



But I wasn't quite into Compton yet.

I'll post that later as I'm going to my dad's place to watch the 49ers play the Rams.

Still can't believe so many people live in South Gate.

And cannot believe Pete Ellis Dodge was hawking the last of the DeLoreans ...

 

As a progressive law student Warren was a legal titan, he led the Supreme Court when they decided thr right to counsel, Miranda, Brown v Bd of Ed. Imagine life nowadays without real due process of law.

Buddy’s mom used to play cards with Burleson’s wife and when I told him I loved the ‘76 Bosox he got Burleson to autograph a ball to “QTLAW” from the “Rooster”! So cool.

 

Rest of the photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/2KCZbKNzc5wXDVzK7

 

Rather than quote your whole post Songbird,

My clients build new schools like this one; its so sad that people have no problems spending another $100M for a new campus, but won't spend a penny more for better teaching resources, like more teachers, to reduce the teacher/student ratio, or more plentiful textbooks, paper, pencils, school buses. Its idiotic and makes no sense. Here have a nice shiny new school, but yeah its still the same 40/1 student teacher ratio,

How about ploughing that money back in at the kindergarten-5 schools to give each kid a more equal starting point?

 

Did the City of Compton keep you rockin'?

 

The list of notables from Compton is really incredible from when the city thrived 75-80 years ago to when it plummeted onto death's door after white flight.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_from_Compton,_California

I knew Pete Rozelle (who was born in South Gate) went to Compton High and graduated with Duke Snider in '44.

Didn't know this till now:

Krist Anthony Novoselic was born in Compton, California, on May 16, 1965, the son of Croatian immigrants Kristo Novaselić and Marija Mustać.[12][13][14] Kristo was a native of Veli Iž on the island of Iž while Marija originates from Privlaka.[14][15] The original Croatian surname of Novaselić was mistakenly changed to Novoselic by a clerk when Kristo was applying for a passport to go to America.[14] Novoselic lived in Compton for one year before his parents moved to the ethnically Croatian Los Angeles neighborhood of San Pedro.[16][17] He has a younger brother, Robert (born 1968), and a younger sister, Diana (born 1973). In 1971, his family relocated to Aberdeen, Washington due to surging real estate costs in California. In 1980, his parents sent him to live with relatives in Zadar, Croatia.[18] He returned to Aberdeen in 1981. His earliest memory of listening to music is listening to Chuck Berry with his father. Growing up, he had a severe underbite, for which he underwent corrective surgery.[19]​

And then you have this:

• Former President George H. W. Bush, former First Lady Barbara Bush and former President George W. Bush lived in Compton in 1949.[12] George and Barbara's second child Robin was born there[13][14]

​

And, of course, Ricky Carrigan, who was born and raised in Chicago before moving to Compton and leading the Tarbabes to the 1991 California Track and Field title.

Compton brought just 4 athletes to the meet: Carrigan, Ed Hervey, Charles Ephraim, Shawn Person. And this was the moment of moments:

As far as @qtlaw's thoughts about a new Compton High in spite of what's really needed ... I don't have an intelligent response.

Compton is in many ways like Trenton in that Trenton is 300 years overdue for a spring cleaning. But Trentonians may never be willing to participate.

 

I understand what you're saying, but you do know that by the time they actually start replacing some of these schools it's because they are really, truly falling down?

 

I actually flew out of Compton airport once in a Cessna. Before I arranged for the flight, I'd had no idea there was an airport there and was a little concerned about going there (this was in the 90s).

 

I covered a JC football game at Compton College once, and was wary. But it was an afternoon game (no lights). The campus was really nice, open and rustic. No sense of inner city at all. A pleasant day, until the coach I was covering stiffed me.

 

I was looking at my birth certificate a few days ago and noticed the address of the apartment I was born into: 3755 Vinton Avenue #3

Asked my dad about it during brunch yesterday. He said we never lived on Vinton.

Dad, I said, the birth certificate says 3755 Vinton #3. Why would it say that if you and Mom didn't live there?

He turns 81 in a few weeks. He again said that he and my mom didn't live on Vinton.

When you were born I worked at the VA.

Where you worked didn't matter, I said, because the birth certificate says 3755 Vinton #3

We rinsed and repeated this a few more times.

3755 Vinton #3 is close to the gym, right on Venice and drive a few miles ...



... so I drove there after today's cardio, made a right onto Vinton ...



... and took a photo of 3755 and wondered why my Dad thinks we never lived in this apartment in 1971.



When I looked up Vinton on Google Maps, I also saw something interesting on the other side of Venice: Goldwyn Terrace.

"Goldwyn" Terrace must be connected to Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. I thought about driving to the other side of Venice.

But I also wanted to drive to Van Nuys. Always loved the name Van Nuys. So I drove to Van Nuys.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High was filmed at Van Nuys High.

Robert Redford, Jane Russell, and Marilyn Monroe went to Van Nuys High.

Tarantino wrote Van Nuys into Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.



I parked on Victory and wandered into an El Salvadoran eatery called El Rincon.

The decor was recycled and cheap but bright and charming.

The walls were full of artworks celebrating The Americas.





I get the Bud and Corona signs -- cerveza es muy delicioso! -- but am super intrigued about why they chose THIS iconic piece.

I was the only one inside and couldn't really ask the woman who made my carne asada burrito because she didn't speak English.



This caught my attention too:



Afterward I walked Van Nuys Boulevard between Victory and Vanowen. It was dirty and depressed and badly blighted and 50 years overdue for a spring cleaning. I've always romanticized Van Nuys as cool and hip and a place to go hang out on the weekend but then I saw, smelled, felt, touched, and tasted Van Nuys today and left town bummed out. Was Van Nuys ever prosperous? Or hip? Or cool? Or anything other than car dealerships?

Here are photos of Van Nuys and other stuff: https://photos.app.goo.gl/kfwYmkxaHZXXLGJN6

One of the "other stuff" is a vanity plate in old school Cali blue and gold that I saw near Mountaingate:



Then I noticed the frame ... Metro-Goldwyn Mayer. The spirits are talking to me.

Googled Goldwyn Terrace and found a kindred soul: Wandering In LA: Goldwyn Terrace

But I still don't know why Dad doesn't remember living at 3755 Vinton Avenue #3

 

This describes the day I got snowed/iced in at the Lafayette, La. airport.

 

My dad occasionally has moments like that, particularly when he is out of his routine. Knowing the family history of dementia, it absolutely crushes me inside.