Gene H. Bell-Villada Links Vladimir Nabokov and Ayn Rand

Gene H. Bell-Villada is a professor of romance languages at Williams College, having earned his doctorate in the field at Harvard.

He's written or edited eleven books, including Art for Art's Sake & Literary Life, a finalist for the 1997 National Book Critics Circle Award, and The Pianist Who Liked Ayn Rand, a collection of essays and short fiction, including a novella that satirizes the Ayn Rand cult phenomenon.

Bell-Villada's latest book, On Nabokov, Ayn Rand and the Libertarian Mind, returns to Rand, finding parallels between her life and philosophy, and that of Vladimir Nabokov.

Read what Bell-Villada has to say about Rand and Nabokov in this latest Hollywood Investigator interview.

Glenn Berggoetz's Latest Horror Film: The Ghosts of Johnson Woods

Glenn Berggoetz, writer/director of Midget Zombie Takeover, has just completed his latest film, a "psychological thriller" called The Ghosts of Johnson Woods, featuring Joe Bob Briggs (top row, middle).

The Ghosts of Johnson Woods was shot in Denver, Colorado. It is set for a 2015 release.

======================

Was Donald Sterling YOUR Landlord?

If Clippers owner Donald Sterling was -- or is -- your landlord, Public Insight Network wants to hear your story. According to an email from PIR's Kristen Lepore:


Donald Sterling apologized for his racist comments that surfaced publicly. But it's not the first time he's been accused of racial bias. He and his companies settled two lawsuits in the past decade claiming his buildings were pushing out black and Latino tenants in favor of Korean ones. One of the suits was filed by the Department of Justice civil rights division.

The Sterling Family Trust owns more than 140 buildings, with more than 8,000 rental units in Los Angeles, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Malibu and Long Beach. Does Donald Sterling discriminate against his thousands of tenants in Los Angeles? Our reporters have answered questions about Sterling's behavior as a landlord, based on KPCC's interviews and examination of public records.

But now, we want to hear from you: Have you rented an apartment from Donald Sterling? Share your insights!

Your response is confidential, and will be used only for our reporting. No names or quotes from your response will be used without your permission.

Kristen Lepore, Social media/web producer

Twitter: @kristenlepore

Southern California Public Radio

89.3 KPCC | 89.1 KUOR | 90.3 KVLA

==========================

Richard Riordan Endorses Competing Candidates for State Senate

Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan has endorsed competing candidates in the upcoming June election for California's 26th State Senate district seat. And both Amy Howorth and Ben Allen -- candidates for the 26th S.D. -- are touting Riordan's endorsement in their political mailers.

Howorth's mailer quotes Riordan as saying, "I am pleased to endorse Amy Howorth for the State Senate." 

Similarly, Allen's mailer quotes Riordan as saying, "I'm proud to support Ben Allen for California's 26th State Senate seat."

Since Republican Riordan endorses both Howorth and Allen, whom does he really support?

But lest you think Allen leans Republican, yet another Allen mailer claims support from Democratic politicians Zev Yaroslavsky and Fran Pavley. Pavley is quoted as saying, "I wholeheartedly endorse Ben Allen for the State Senate."

Tellingly, Allen trumpets his Riordan and Yaroslavsky/Pavley endorsements in separate mailers. Is the former targeted to registered Republicans, while the latter is sent to Democrats? Do Independents get both?

As during every election season, voters are flooded with confusing and contradictory political mailers. Politicians hope that voters will just peruse the feel-good photos of candidates and their smiling families, note that they've been endorsed by presumably important people, and not think too much beyond that.

 

==========================

Congressional Candidate Ted Lieu Supports Rights of the Accused

California State Senator Ted Lieu (D - Westside) is running for Congress in the 33rd Congressional District, hoping to replace the retiring Henry Waxman.

He's also currently sponsoring a bill that should civil libertarians and Constitutionalists across the political spectrum.

According to Gary Walker, writing for The Argonaut (April 2, 2014):


"Lieu's Senate Bill 980 would compel police departments to allow inmate defense teams to conduct DNA testing on biological case evidence and allow courts to act against law enforcement officials who destroy DNA evidence in violation of state code."


Especially noteworthy is the part I put in boldface. The article continues:


"Law enforcement agencies are currently allowed to destroy biological evidence six months after a conviction, but Lieu's proposal would extend the timeline to a full year. It would also mandate that DNA evidence be run through the FBI's Combined DNA Index System in cases where DNA evidence is found not to match a suspect or inmate.

" 'I think one of the greatest injustices that a government and a society can commit is to wrongly convict an innocent person,' said Lieu, a former Air Force Judge Advocate General prosecutor.

"Since 2000, there have been 244 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States, including eight in California, according to the California Innocence Project, which is co-sponsoring the bill with the Northern California Innocence Project."


You can read the full story here.

Ted Lieu's main opponents include Wendy Greuel and Marianne Williamson.

=========================

Illiteracy Rising Among Los Angeles Journalists

Illiteracy is rising among Los Angeles area journalists.

In writing about "the public outcry" over Santa Monica's proposed Hines project [Santa Monica Daily Press, February 7, 2014, front page], David Mark Simpson wrote that we are in the "eye" of the storm. He then described a "large protest," which he apparently saw as the most tumultuous part of this outcry.

Yet the "eye of the storm" is the calm part of the storm -- not the tumultuous part.

Journalistic illiteracy also marred the December 26, 2013 issue of The Argonaut [page 9], which described The Doors as "the penultimate Venice band." But penultimate means "next to last." Clearly the writer of this caption (no byline was given) meant ultimate, not penultimate.

The internet has encouraged both illiteracy, and its acceptance, even among the college-educated. That is sad, but true. But still sadder is that even print journalists are not immune from this growing illiteracy.

====================== 

Coyotes in Santa Monica

There have been recent reports of coyotes in Santa Monica, but their presence is nothing new. I've enjoyed nocturnal walks in Santa Monica for the past 20 years, and I see coyotes, on average, every 18 months.

One weekend in November, at around 3:30 a.m., I saw two coyotes wandering California Avenue and 4th Street. It's the first time I saw a coyote couple since the late 1990s, when I'd occasionally see a pair wandering around 15th Street, near Alta and Marguerita.

Almost always I see lone coyotes, north of Montana Avenue, in the wee morning hours. But in early 2012 I saw four coyotes along Georgina, between 14th and 17th, around 4 a.m. They entered a homeowner's front yard, and from there, presumably, the back yard.

In 2011 I saw a coyote around Georgina and 21st, at 8 p.m., Saturday. (I assume there's less traffic to scare them off on weekends.) He followed me a few blocks, the only time I ever saw such a fearless coyote. Even the pack of four kept their distance from me. In the early 2000s, I saw one coyote several times, on Centinella.

I've never had problems with coyotes. If one follows me, I stop and stare at him. He always stops too, and seeing that I'm unafraid, follows me no more.

I've seen racoons and what looked like possums on Centinella Avenue. I've seen a possum on California Avenue. I've seen racoons -- whole families of them -- north of Montana. And a lone raccoon on Arizona Avenue, my only wildlife spotting in the mid-City area. Several times, when they see me, the racoons rush for a storm drain, where they apparently live.

I've never met a hostile coyote. They mostly seem wary or uninterested. Whereas racoons often look at me with fierce, hostile expressions. At least that's how they look to me. But they keep their distance, and I keep mine.

Santa Monica is beautiful in the wee hours. Smog and heat have dissipated. No noisy traffic. No people shouting into cell phones. And occasionally, one is lucky enough to see wildlife.

===================