Porfirio Diaz, aging dictator of Mexico, is "re-elected"
Along with the unpopular Ramon Corral as his vice-president. In 1904, having been more or less in power since 1876, the seventy-four year old Diaz extended the presidential term to six years and revived the office of the vice-presidency in his continuing efforts to establish a permanent dictatorship, until finally ousted by the revolution in 1911.
We've learned so much about running a government from our friends south of the border, haven't we.
I feel I just did not do justice to our Mayor the other day, and as this is Hispanic Heritage Month, I decided to try again. But, having personally learned about the Pursuit of Love in a Cold Climate, [Ohio, western Pennsylvania, bits of Michigan and Illinois] I realized I would have to do some serious research if I was to properly address the subject of hot-blooded passion and politics in SoCal. So yesterday I took a field trip to the Los Angeles Public Library facility downtown (built 1926), now known as the Richard Riordan Central Libary, named after a former mayor of Los Angeles.
We've learned so much about running a government from our friends south of the border, haven't we.
I feel I just did not do justice to our Mayor the other day, and as this is Hispanic Heritage Month, I decided to try again. But, having personally learned about the Pursuit of Love in a Cold Climate, [Ohio, western Pennsylvania, bits of Michigan and Illinois] I realized I would have to do some serious research if I was to properly address the subject of hot-blooded passion and politics in SoCal. So yesterday I took a field trip to the Los Angeles Public Library facility downtown (built 1926), now known as the Richard Riordan Central Libary, named after a former mayor of Los Angeles.
Detail: Chandeliers hanging in the "New Wing" of the Los Angeles Public Library.
Where else would you go to learn about Love and Desire, right?
Eduardo, who had encouraged me to pursue the story of our Mayor in the first place, had actually suggested I use the local architecture as a starting point -- specifically, that the official residence of the Mayor of Los Angeles had been given to the city by J. Paul Getty. Of course, as I tried to explain, Getty is interesting in the way only a man who builds an over-scaled Roman villa in Malibu is interesting. Which is to say, not exactly the same as the current mayor who --
Well you practically live across the street, Eduardo shot back.
Oh, not "across the street." Maybe, "in the neighborhood..."
Close enough. And in a landmark built by another politically powerful man of great wealth who was also a famous philanderer.
What he was referring to actually was William Randolph Hearst who built the building where I live (in 1929, however, not 1904) as an investment property for a young starlet whose career he was ...
Eduardo narrowed his eyes. Whether from doubt or as a warning was not immediately clear.
Okay, I said, not wanting to find out. So maybe Hearst was doing more than "helping" Marion Davies --
He is the REAL CITIZEN KANE, Eduardo corrected me forcefully. They had a Love Nest in there. There are rosebuds in the plaster of the bedroom ceiling.
"Rosebud" was Hearst's nickname for Marion, as you probably know; not a sled. A special part of Marion, in fact, which I guess explains why there are rosebuds over the bed and not the...
Yes, of course, I replied. And Hearst did try a run for the presidency, I admitted. In the 1900 election if not 1904. There are definite parallels. I frowned, thinking hard.
Eduardo, who has been trying valiantly to encourage my creative efforts, made a general and perhaps colorful observation about life or people, or so I must assume, for my Spanish is limited to simple pleasantries and basic terms having to do with sexual preferences.
Oh, and for those of you who have complained about my cropping skills, I give you the following wider, more inclusive view:
Eduardo, who had encouraged me to pursue the story of our Mayor in the first place, had actually suggested I use the local architecture as a starting point -- specifically, that the official residence of the Mayor of Los Angeles had been given to the city by J. Paul Getty. Of course, as I tried to explain, Getty is interesting in the way only a man who builds an over-scaled Roman villa in Malibu is interesting. Which is to say, not exactly the same as the current mayor who --
Well you practically live across the street, Eduardo shot back.
Oh, not "across the street." Maybe, "in the neighborhood..."
Close enough. And in a landmark built by another politically powerful man of great wealth who was also a famous philanderer.
What he was referring to actually was William Randolph Hearst who built the building where I live (in 1929, however, not 1904) as an investment property for a young starlet whose career he was ...
Eduardo narrowed his eyes. Whether from doubt or as a warning was not immediately clear.
Okay, I said, not wanting to find out. So maybe Hearst was doing more than "helping" Marion Davies --
He is the REAL CITIZEN KANE, Eduardo corrected me forcefully. They had a Love Nest in there. There are rosebuds in the plaster of the bedroom ceiling.
"Rosebud" was Hearst's nickname for Marion, as you probably know; not a sled. A special part of Marion, in fact, which I guess explains why there are rosebuds over the bed and not the...
Yes, of course, I replied. And Hearst did try a run for the presidency, I admitted. In the 1900 election if not 1904. There are definite parallels. I frowned, thinking hard.
Eduardo, who has been trying valiantly to encourage my creative efforts, made a general and perhaps colorful observation about life or people, or so I must assume, for my Spanish is limited to simple pleasantries and basic terms having to do with sexual preferences.
Oh, and for those of you who have complained about my cropping skills, I give you the following wider, more inclusive view:
Worth a visit! Before I moved to L.A. there was a fire at the library, set by a homeless man in the Fiction Section Bs. I know this because I tried to check out Scott Bradfield in 1991 and the librarian whose assistance I requested smiled sadly and tipped her head. "B" she said. "That's where the fire was. Sorry."Anyway, Eduardo is quite right and I need to look further into the matter of William Randolph Hearst and his ties to the current events in our fair city and city government today, but once I arrived at the library downtown on Fifth Street (I took the subway!) I got distracted and ended up checking out the following books:
Jeremy Scahill, BLACKWATER. The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army. Nation Books, 2007.
[Which is much more than just about Blackwater and quite honestly if every American read about the actual events of the Iraq War we wouldn't still be there. A must read. The founder of Blackwater is from Holland, Michigan, a town I happen to know well.]
Daniel Pinchbeck, 2012. The Return of Quetzalcoatl. Penguin, 2006. This selection for obvious reasons, though the reviews have been less than raves. His previous work, "Breaking Open the Head" on his psychedelic drug use, is more highly regarded.
Anne de Courcy, THE VICEROY'S DAUGHTERS. The Lives of the Curzon Sisters. William Morrow, 2000. A fascinating history proving that Love in a Cold Climate needn't ever be dull.
All due back in three weeks. Then I really must return to the subject of Hearst and Getty and the Mayor, I suppose. In the meantime, here's a final bit of Hispanic Month History:
In 1904 the landowner Luis Terrazas turned the government of Chihuahua over to his ruthless son-in-law Enrique Creel, who replaced all the elected mayors with his own appointees, resulting in even more hardship and misery for the people.
Mayors in Mexico being like Attorney Generals, I suppose. Same idea, surely.
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