CHARLES H. CRAWFORD, A LOS ANGELES AL CAPONE PART 2
FAILURE OF California’s Julian Petroleum Company, aka “Julian Pete,” caught up Charles H. Crawford, Los Angeles politician/saloon owner in 1930. Allegedly, he paid $75,000 to hush up exposure of his … Continue reading
CHARLES H. CRAWFORD, THE LOS ANGELES AL CAPONE PART 1
IN MY continuing recognition of scalawags, political and otherwise, I offer Charles H. Crawford, who in the 1920s was the Los Angeles version of Chicago’s Al Capone. The tale has … Continue reading
STEFANO ZANNOWICH—A GENUINE RASCAL PART 2
WHEN WE left the Montenegrin Serb royal impersonator Stefano Zannowich yesterday here, it was 1773 and he had just composed Pigmalione. Let’s not credit Zannowich with inspiring the 1956 Broadway … Continue reading
STEFANO ZANNOWICH—A GENUINE RASCAL PART 1
WHAT WITH two-bit, four-bit, and six-bit rascals populating Washington, D.C. these days, it’s comforting to learn about a genuine, first-class, international rascal of the highest order. Indeed, his rascality calls … Continue reading
THE GREAT FIREWALL OF CHINA
THE INTERNET used to be likened to the wild and woolly west. Less so today, perhaps; but a Great Firewall has limited China’s access to the worldwide web. I learned … Continue reading
ARTURO BENEDETTI MICHELANGELI, CLASSICAL PIANIST—AND RACE DRIVER? PART 2
ARTURO MICHELANGELI was regarded as a great classical pianist. In a profession not unknown for eccentricities, he was also one of the most idiosyncratic and most mysterious. Forte-Piano-Pianissimo.com writes that … Continue reading
ARTURO BENEDETTI MICHELANGELI, CLASSICAL PIANIST—AND RACE DRIVER? PART 1
THE CLASSICAL music announcer added casually that pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli also competed in the Mille Miglia. Though I had heard of Michelangeli the pianist before, I was intrigued by … Continue reading
HYPOCRISY ON THE HIGH SEAS
THE JONES ACT, a U.S. regulation dating from 1920, is strangling humanitarian shipments to Maria-stricken Puerto Rico. What’s worse, the Trump administration has refused to waive this federal restriction to … Continue reading
TO A MORE APPROPRIATE KINGDOM, THIS TRULY COULDN’T HAPPEN
A TEXTBOOK is being withdrawn from Saudi Arabian schools because it contains a photo of the late King Faisal, a Saudi prince at the time, signing the UN Charter in … Continue reading
BEL CANTO POP!
PACIFIC OPERA Project’s production of Gaetano Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor was great! This Los Angeles-based opera company, known affectionately as POP, has even made a Bel Canto lover of me. … Continue reading →