Glendale History Bike Ride Photos

The Glendale History Ride two weeks ago was fantastic. 77 riders came along on a tour of historical and scenic spots in Glendale and Atwater Village. Big thanks to Colin Bogart, Marc Stirdivant, and Marty Braccioti, who helped organize, and ace ABC7 photographer Martin Orozco for taking most of the great photos below. Also thank you to ride volunteers Jennie Rickert, Nathalie Winiarski and Jen from The Cave Wine Storage. The ride was sponsored by The Glendale Historical Society, LA County Bicycle Coalition and the City of Glendale Community Services and Parks Department.

Here are ride reports by George Larios (who was nice enough to help me out at the beginning of the ride) at Montrose Patch and by new blogger Somebody Walks.

Selected photos are below, and I posted the full set on Flickr here. Most of these are by Martin Orozco, a few are by Marty Braccioti, and I think one or two are Marc Stirdivant's. I was too busy to take many photos of my own.

• FULL SET ON FLICKR

Group photo before the ride

Departin the Glendale Train Station. Photo by Martin Orozco


Riding along the scenic LA River Path. Photo by Martin Orozco

Speaking about the history of the Grand Central Air Terminal.

I took this photo looking back at the group on Glenoaks. Don't make a wrong turn!

Riding through the Kenilworth Tunnel under the 134. Photo by Martin Orozco

At the Goode House. Photo by Martin Orozco

Exploring the nooks and crannies of The Cave Wine Storage, in the historic Hotel Glendale. Photo by Martin Orozco

Speaking at the Richardson House, former home of Tropico founder W.C.B Richardson. The oldest wood-frame home in Glendale.

Exploring the tiny Cottage Grove Historic District near Adams Hill. Photo by Martin Orozco

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Pacific BMW Busted Driving Recklessly in South Glendale

Some jackass posted this video on Youtube of dangerous driving in a brand-spanking new, just off the truck, in the plastic BMW 1M. The BMW lovers at 1addicts.com were offended by the reckless driving -- and flagrant abuse of the new car during its "break in" period -- and did some sleuthing. They found this frame in another video by the same user, clearly showing Windsor and Glendale Avenue, thus identifying the dealership as Glendale's own Pacific BMW. Several other commenters on the board chimed in with experiences at Pacific BMW where the techs abused their cars. I will be contacting the management of the dealership to express my anger at their employees putting the lives of myself and my neighbors at risk, and I encourage you to do the same. If you see any employees of Pacific BMW (or other dealerships) driving recklessly, please report them to the Glendale Police Department and contact the management. If you have pictures or video, send them to me.



I walked by Pacific BMW on the way home from work and I believe this is the 1M in the video:

(via Jalopnik)

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Pulp Fiction Fans: "Jack Rabbit Slim's" Exterior Filmed in Glendale

The exterior shot of Pulp Fiction's fictional Jack Rabbit Slim's restaurant was filmed near the Grand Central Air Terminal at Flower and Sonora. We passed right by it on the Glendale History Ride!

Check out all of the info and pictures of Jack Rabbit Slim's at I Am Not A Stalker. The building was part of a 60-lane bowling alley, and is now owned by Disney as part of the Grand Central Creative Complex.

I Am Not A Stalker has tons more info on local filming locations, including Lance's House from Pulp Fiction, which is just across the tracks in Atwater Village.

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Zankou Chicken Murders Story Finally Online

Mark Arax's excellent 2008 Los Angeles Magazine piece on the Zankou Chicken murders -- company founder Mardiros Iskenderian killed his mother, sister, and himself -- is finally online.


"When the patriarch of the hugely popular fast-food chain killed his mother and sister, then himself, he left behind a family wrestling with fate—and each other"


Read it here.

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Glendale History Bike Ride This Saturday

This Saturday, August 13th, I'll be leading a 13.5 mile bike ride to a number of historical sites in Glendale and Atwater Village with Colin Bogart and Marty Bracciotti. The route will take us along the Los Angeles River trail to the Grand Central Air Terminal, The Goode House, Richardson house (the oldest wood home in Glendale, home of the founder of Tropico), the Cottage Grove Historic District, Adams Square, and many other interesting places.

We are meeting at the historic Glendale Train Station at 400 W. Cerritos Ave at 8:30am and departing at 9. Bring water, sunscreen and a helmet (required). I created a Facebook event page for the ride here, please RSVP.


The ride is sponsored by the Glendale Historical Society, Glendale Community Services and Parks Department and the LA County Bicycle Coalition.

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Intestine Dress

Saw this in a downtown Glendale storefront and am still recovering.

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Google Street View Car in Downtown Glendale

Reader Christina pointed me in the direction of this kitted-out Google Street View Subaru Impreza in downtown Glendale. Very cool. I hope they remembered to pay at the multi-space meter.

Check out the multi-camera rig.

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Apple Store Wars: Americana vs Glendale Galleria!

The Apple Store at the Americana is now open! The Galleria store, Apple Store #001, is also open! At 2pm on Monday, I walked to both to see how crowded each store was.

The Galleria Apple Store at 2pm (below)


The new Americana Apple Store at 2pm (below)


So even though a brand new, much larger Apple store is just a 5 minute walk away, the Galleria store was still massively crowded! The Americana store was also crowded, though not to the incredible density of the Galleria. Both pictures were taken within ten minutes.

The exterior of the new Americana store

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Don Cuco's and Rolling Fish Close, Apple Store Opens

Brand Boulevard Bummer: Don Cuco's Mexican Restaurant and Rolling Fish have both gone out of business. Rolling Fish was in the downstairs space in Glendale's oldest brick building, which was formerly occupied by Sansai. (Well, Rolling Fish basically was Sansai, after the owner got tired of paying the Sansai franchising fees.)

On the bright side, a new Apple Store just opened at The Americana. Full report from MacStories.

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