On the Road: Arcadia, California

Click on Thumbnail for Map

Note: First published on Blogger on September 13, 2007

Unfolding the Map

I'm back for a post, everyone. Sorry for the delay. I'm trying to finish a dissertation and apply for jobs. And I went to El Salvador for five weeks. It's too bad that these things have to get in the way of the fun stuff, but I'm sure that Sal and Jack would have mocked my efforts to get myself into academia...I'd be quite a square in their eyes. Oh well...click on the map to see where we are!

Book Quote

"Terry and I had to decide absolutely and once and for all what to do. We decided to hitch to New York with our remaining money. She picked up five dollars from her sister that night. We had about thirteen or less. So before the daily room rent was due again we packed up and took off on a red car to Arcadia, California, where Santa Anita racetrack is located under snow-capped mountains. It was night. We were pointed toward the american continent."

On the Road, Chapter 13

Arcadia, California

It's interesting what happens when you reach a point where you know what you're doing just isn't working, and yet you have no idea what to do next. Sal and Terry are at that point. Their plan to make it in LA has gone nowhere, and they are down to their last few pennies. We've all hit those points in our lives. I think that I've hit those points a lot in the last 10 years.

Recently, my sister hit that point, and like Sal, she made a decision to stop trying to force herself into jobs that weren't working for her, and decided to go home. She is now back with my mother, and trying to figure out where her life is going next.

It's a lonely place. Some don't understand why you've decided to give up. Others understand, but your leaving means that those people who were important at that time in your life may drift away. In some ways, it feels like a regression, not a progression. You've failed, and now you must wallow in your misery and go back to all those people who want to say "I told you so."

Sal has spent a lot of time and energy to get out to the West coast. Now, as he says, he is pointed toward the american continent, in Arcadia. Arcadia's name has roots in Greek mythology. Arcas was the son of Zeus by Callisto in one of Zeus' infamous seductions. Arcas eventually ruled Arcadia and was the world's greatest hunter. And in a way, Sal is hunting. He stands at the cusp of a new decision, searching for a direction, seeking the shelter of his familiar New York.

One day Arcas accidentally killed his mother, who was disguised as a Great Bear, and Zeus put them in the heavens as Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. The end of the tail of Ursa Minor is Polaris, the North Star. As we will see, Sal and Terry cannot escape the pull north very easily...they think they will go east, but they must go north to get there.

If you want to know more about Arcadia

City of Arcadia
Santa Anita Racetrack
Santa Anita Racetrack Assembly Center for WWII Japanese Relocation
Wikipedia: Arcadia, California

Next up: Bakersfield, California (again!)

On the Road: Central Avenue, Los Angeles, California

Click on Thumbnail for MapNote: First published on Blogger on May 4, 2007

Unfolding the Map

Though Jack doesn't say where he is on Central Avenue, I've taken the liberty to mark his visit to the area at 42nd and Central, the site of the Dunbar Hotel and the home of the modern day Central Avenue Jazz Festival. Central Avenue was the heart of the jazz scene in LA in the 1940s and 50s, and Jack was a jazz lover, so this makes sense. If you want to see where we are, click the map.

Book Quote

"Terry came out and led me by the hand to Central Avenue, which is the colored main drag of LA. And what a wild place it is, with chickenshacks barely big enough to house a jukebox, and the jukebox blowing nothing but blues, bop, and jump. We went up dirty tenement stairs and came to the room of Terry's friend Margarina, who owed Terry a skirt and a pair of shoes. Margarina was a lovely mulatto; her husband was black as spades and kindly....The wild humming night of Central Avenue -- the night of Hamp's 'Central Avenue Breakdown' -- howled and boomed along outside. They were singing in the halls, singing from their windows, just hell be damned and look out."

On the Road, Chapter 13

Central Avenue, Los Angeles, California

Of all the stops that Kerouac makes on his trip, I think this area must have been one of the most interesting places to be. This area has long been associated with the African-American population of Los Angeles, and has been the focal point for a couple of infamous news stories in the 20th century. It was in this general area, a little farther south, that the Watts riots took place in 1965. It was also in this general area, South Florence and Normandie, that the Rodney King riots happened in 1992.

However, in the 1940s, Central Avenue was the home of some of the most electrifying jazz and R&B in the country. Many of the biggest names in jazz music established themselves and helped create a Central Avenue sound that was unmatched. A night on Central Avenue must have been a night to remember. Jack describes the sounds Sal hears as he waits at Terry's friend's apartment. He describes hearing Lionel Hampton, "Hamp," an amazing jazz musician who established the vibraphone as a bona fide jazz instrument, in the "humming night." I'm sure that any modern jazz aficionado would have killed to be at that moment in time on Central Avenue.

I became aware of the Central Avenue sound when I purchased for my wife a four CD set called "Jazz on Central Avenue." Highlighting jazz from the 1920s through the 1950s, the set covers jazz luminaries from Jellyroll Morton to Miles Davis to Charlie Parker to Charles Mingus. All of these performers were either frequent visitors to Central Avenue, or residents of the area who most certainly performed there. It is a great CD set, and one that I've enjoyed in the years since we've had it.

In this day and age, when jazz has largely been confined to aficionados due to the overwhelming presence of pop and rock, it is easy to forget that jazz in the 40s was the pre-emininent American musical artform, and influenced the pop sounds of the day. People were as passionate about Miles Davis or John Coltrane then as they are about Britney and Justin, the Shins and 50 Cent, today. I know that I'm showing a lot of my ignorance of pop music by highlighting people who are not the flavor of the day, but I think you'll get my point. For Jack, who is in the middle of this scene at the right time, smoking "tea" and listening to the sounds of the Central Avenue night, it must have seemed like heaven.

If you want to know more about Central Avenue and its music scene

Central Avenue Jazz Festival
Central Avenue Sounds
Robert Gordon's Blog on West Coast Jazz
Wikipedia: Central Avenue

Some musicians of Central Avenue

Big Jay McNeely
Buddy Collette
Charles Mingus
Dexter Gordon
Lionel Hamption: Life and Legacy
Wikipedia: Lionel Hampton

Next up: Arcadia, California

On the Road: Alameda Avenue, Burbank, California

Click on Thumbnail for MapNote: First published on Blogger on May 3, 2007

Unfolding the Map

Okay, I'm going to admit something here. I'm just guessing on this one. I did a Google and a Google Earth search for Alameda Avenue, and the only one that came up was in Burbank. So, I don't really know whether Sal went here or not, or if Alameda Avenue even exists. But, it's plausible, perhaps, even though Burbank doesn't quite fit the image. So I'm just going with it and I hope you'll excuse my leap. If you want to see where we are on the map, just click the image at left. Enjoy today's posting!

Book Quote

"'Man,I'm going to get my clothes from Sis and we'll hitchhike to New York,' said Terry. 'Come on, man. Let's do it. If you can't boogie I know I'll show you how.' That last part was a song of hers she kept singing. We hurried to her sister's house in the sliverous Mexican shacks somewhere beyond Alameda Avenue. I waited in a dark alley behind Mexican kitchens because her sister wasn't supposed to see me. Dogs ran by. There were little lamps illuminating the little rat alleys. I could hear Terry and her sister arguing in the soft, warm night. I was ready for anything."

On the Road, Chapter 13

Alameda Avenue, Burbank, California

As stated above, I don't know if this is the general area where Terry's sister lived or not. It seems plausible, simply because the only other Alameda Avenue I could find is much farther away, in Azusa, California, and it is only a small street. Sal says, vaguely, "somewhere beyond Alameda Avenue." That could mean anything.

It seems like almost a spot decision, the way it is presented in the book, that Terry and Sal will hitchhike to New York. Sal has already entertained her with stories of New York, and being from Bakersfield and already heading for a big city when Sal met her, it makes some sense for Terry to want to see something even bigger and perhaps better herself in the wealth of opportunities there. This is also somewhat notable, because it is the first time in this journey that Sal really thinks about heading back to New York. Many times he has had moments of crisis, notably at the Bear Mountain Bridge and in Iowa and Nebraska, but he manages to keep traveling toward his goal of Denver and then San Francisco. Now, however, he doesn't say a word, just follows Terry's lead. Perhaps he is in love? Or maybe he's tired of the road? Or a little of both?

I find the use of "sliverous" to describe the dwellings of the Mexican families interesting. I can't decide whether he means that they are narrow, or they are made of material that would give one slivers. Either way seems to work...I can imagine narrow shacks jammed together in a kind of "barrio." I can also imagine that they are made of rough hewn planks, and whatever else could be salvaged. One only need to visit a colonia along the Texas-US, New Mexico-US, Arizona-US or California-US border to get a sense of what I mean. A colonia is usually a settlement with houses made from whatever can be scrounged -- wood, tin roofing, plastic, canvas, in short everything. They often have no running water, and perhaps no electricity. Obviously Terry's sister's neighborhood had some electricity because of the lamps in the narrow "rat" alleys. To Jack, such neighborhoods may have seemed dangerous and exciting, and it is notable that Sal must hide because propriety dictates that Terry's sister not know about him. Had he been seen, who knows what might happen.

Was this place in or near Burbank? Probably not, since Burbank has traditionally been an upper-middle class area. But it could very well have been beyond Burbank, which must have seemed like the hinterlands in the late 1940s; a dark, less populated area beyond the city lights that the well-to-do and comfortable avoided, but which provided shelter and life to the down and out on the fringes of society.

If you want to learn more about Burbank or colonias

City of Burbank
Colonia definitions (Texas)
History of Burbank
Wikipedia: Burbank
Wikipedia: Colonia

Next up: Central Avenue, Los Angeles, California

On the Road: Downtown Los Angeles

Click on Thumbnail for MapNote: First published on Blogger on May 2, 2007

Unfolding the Map

Sal and Terry are still trying to drum up some money and a way to stay in LA. Join them in the cafeteria line below. If you want to see where we are, click the map!

Book Quote

"Terry and I ate in a cafeteria downtown which was decorated to look like a grotto, with metal tits spurting everywhere and great impersonal stone buttockses belonging to deities and soapy Neptune. People ate lugubrious meals around the waterfalls, their faces green with marine sorrow. All the cops in LA looked like handsome gigolos; obviously they'd come to LA to make the movies. Everybody had come to make the movies, even me."

On the Road, Chapter 13

Downtown Los Angeles, California

"Lugubrious meals...faces green with marine sorrow." Now that's an interesting line Sal utters. I had to look up lugubrious -- it's one of those words that I had a feeling for but no real way to describe it. It means mournful, dismal or gloomy. So, everyone in LA appears to Sal to be full of gloom.

The contrasts made are pretty fascinating. LA is, and continues to be, one of the most sunshine-filled cities of the country. It's full of "happy" things, including our movie, television and music industries, Disneyland (the happiest place on earth), beautiful beaches and beautiful people, and yet they eat lugubrious meals at downtown cafeterias. I find this interesting because it so jars with the common perceptions we have of LA. Even today, we associate the stars with the good life, fun times, lives of leisure and wish we had that too. We know there is an underbelly of sadness because all the tabloids tell us so. But we still wish we had it, because we know we could do better with it. As Sal says, even the cops came to LA to be in the movies, and so did he, seeking the good life.

Clifton's Cafeteria Pacific Seas in the 1950sAnother fascinating thing that he mentions is eating in a cafeteria. How long has it been since you ate at a cafeteria? I mean a real cafeteria with a lunch line. Since you were in school, right? Perhaps you might have eaten in a cafeteria associated with your work. Perhaps. Most likely, you eat out like most other Americans - fast food. But public cafeterias used to be the fast food of Jack's day. Cheap, efficient and probably better quality food than the latest McMeal. When I lived in Texas, Luby's was the cafeteria style restaurant that still operated there, and was very popular on weekend breakfast outings. Here in New Mexico, we have a Furr's or two which provides cafeteria-style dining ambience, though I don't imagine that they are decorated as Sal describes that LA cafeteria. If any cafeterias are decorated as such, I would like to go there!

If you want to know more about downtown Los Angeles or cafeteria dining

Blogdowntown (Eric Richardson's blog of downtown LA life)
Clifton's Cafeteria (Perhaps Kerouac/Sal ate here?)
Downtown Los Angeles Walking Tour
Los Angeles Downtown News
Wikipedia: Cafeteria
Wikipedia: Downtown Los Angeles
Yesterday LA: Downtown

Next up: Alameda Avenue, Burbank, California

On the Road: Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles, California

Click on Thumbnail for MapNote: First published on Blogger on May 1, 2007

Unfolding the Map

Sal is still hanging around the stars in Hollywood. He even catches a glimpse of one or two. But, Hollywood's siren song doesn't bring him much fame, fortune, or even food money. Click on the map for the latest in our LA journey.

Book Quote

"Hollywood Boulevard was a great, screaming frenzy of cars; there were minor accidents at least once a minute; everybody was rushing off toward the farthest palm -- and beyond that was the desert and nothingness. Hollywood Sams stood in front of swank restaurants, arguing exactly the same way Broadway Sams argue at Jacob's Beach, New York, only here they wore light-weight suits and their talk was cornier. Tall, cadaverous preachers shuddered by. Fat screaming women ran across the boulevard to get in line for the quiz shows. I saw Jerry Colonna buying a car at Buick Motors; he was inside the vast plate-glass window, fingering his mustachio."

On the Road, Chapter 13

Hollywood Boulevard, Hollywood, California

Two or three things stand out to me in Sal's quote. First, anyone who has been to Los Angeles knows that nowhere in the general vicinity of LA can you find desert and nothingness beyond the farthest palm. Beyond the farthest palm is more city or suburb, more concrete roadways and whatever housing fits in the area. If indeed this is what Sal sees, then 1940s era LA must have been more compact, and perhaps even some of the various communities in the LA area were separated by open space at the time. That certainly isn't the case today. When you speak of the LA area now, you speak of one unbroken stretch of city where communities bleed into one another and people pass by on the freeways barely noticing them.

Second, I notice that Sal makes a comparison between LA and New York City as he talks about the "Hollywood Sams" arguing. Who exactly they are and what exactly they argue about I'm not sure -- I'm guessing that they are local know-it-alls and their arguments have something to do with the quality of entertainment, the latest stars, and the opportunities available in the movie business. However, his allusions are more than just this. Hollywood Boulevard is a screaming frenzy of cars, much like I imagine Broadway was and still is. Even in the fantasyland of the west coast, there are certain similarities between cities that just don't go away. This includes all the characters that Sal sees. The preachers, the fat ladies running to the quiz shows, the Hollywood Sams, and even Jerry Colonna with a huge mustachio. Who is Jerry Colonna? It is interesting that Jack included him in this scene. He was a zany Italian-American, mustached comedian who appeared many times with Bob Hope and was known for playing nit-witted characters, according to Wikipedia. The interesting thing about his inclusion in this scene is the ironic juxtaposition -- Jerry Colonna is doing something mundane and non-zany, buying a car at Buick, while the zaniness and craziness and all the strange characters are the rest of America roaming around outside the car dealership.

This leads to an interesting question to ponder. Is America that crazy, that weird, that strange that they can make professional actors whose job is to play strange characters seem remarkably tame? Are actors really looking at us and saying "Now THAT's strange -- I'll use it for my next performance!" Are places like Hollywood just manifestations of the real strangeness and idiocy that we barely hold in? Did Jack really see through all this?

Am I just play-acting the English major, aping what I see true literary critics doing, but not realizing that I too am part of the general strangeness and idiocy that is America?

By the way, Hollywood Boulevard is the home of the "Walk of Fame" that you hear about every so often when some actor gets his or her star set into the concrete.

If you want to know more about Hollywood Boulevard, the Walk of Fame or Jerry Colonna

Hollywood Boulevard - The Virtual Tour
Hollywood Chamber of Commerce
Hollywood Walk of Fame
IMDB: Jerry Colonna
Seeing-stars.com: Hollywood Boulevard
Wikipedia: Hollywood Walk of Fame
Wikipedia: Jerry Colonna

Next up: Downtown Los Angeles