"Live"blogging HASTAC II: L.A. at 65 MPH

Notable California historian Norman Klein kicked off the last day of the HASTAC II conference by literalizing the TechnoTravels/TeleMobility theme of the event.  We boarded a bus in Newport Beach for a winding tour of as many OC and LA neighborhoods as we could fit into a 2.5 hour jaunt to UCLA.  Klein, the author of A History of Forgetting: Los Angeles and the Erasure of Memory, narrated our journey, and I've included my photo tour here.  Klein emphasized that much of this area is intended to be experienced through the windshield, and I do think my bus window vantage point reflects that.  An additional point: "nothing means something."  By this Klein is pointing out that there is little to see from the main roads in wealthier neighborhoods, by design as a means of privacy which in action fortifies boundaries.  That's why you won't see much of Westwood or Bel Air reflected here, for example.

While Los Angeles' history is often thought to be tied to the film industry, multiple histories of this global city exist, and some of them were teased out in our travels.  Though they are often forgotten or deliberately obscured, Klein found many markers crucial to our consideration of the history of Los Angeles.  The houses below on Douglas St., for example, are rare survivors from over a century ago and serve as backdrops for film.  Indeed, historic homes have been moved here from other areas, creating a neighborhood "older than itself."  The travels of neighborhoods themselves (the Chinatown pictured here is LA's 3rd) are indeed a factor in building an understanding of Southern California's history.

The zine guide put together by Anne Balsamo

Our starting point in Newport Beach

Seal Beach under gray skies

Rainy downtown Long Beach

Onramp to the 710, Long Beach

Rails in Commerce

Approaching downtown LA

Chinatown

Douglas St., with some homes dating from the 1890s-1910s

Silverlake

Church of Scientology HQ in the blue building

Indiana Jones ad in Hollywood

Hollywood intersection

Our destination: UCLA (this is the main library)

Areas visited: Newport Beach --> Seal Beach --> Long Beach --> Carson --> Commerce --> Downey --> Huntington Park --> Union Station --> Boyle Heights --> Echo Park --> Silverlake --> Los Feliz --> East Hollywood --> Hollywood/Sunset Strip --> Westwood/Bel Air