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Port Earns Top Prize for Outstanding Communications

Reporters Desk
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Port Earns Top Prize for Outstanding Communications

LONG BEACH — The Port of Long Beach Aug. 17, collected the most awards from the American Association of Port Authorities by earning recognition for all 14 of its entries spanning a variety of communications campaigns, including the trade association’s top prize for the Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Project Mobile App.

The Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement Mobile App, launched in January 2019, won the AAPA’s Award of Overall Communications Excellence trophy, the highest honor bestowed by the AAPA, which represents more than 130 seaports in the United States, Canada and Latin America. Long Beach competed in categories composed of seaports with the largest communications budgets.

The new LB Bridge App, deemed by AAPA judges as “visually appealing with so many great features,” informs users of construction status, benefits and impacts of the $1.5 billion bridge replacement project, scheduled to open this year. The app is available to download on Apple and Android mobile phones.

The Port of Long Beach earned the AAPA’s Award of Excellence – the equivalent of first-place trophies – in five categories:

  • The annual “State of the Port” event held in January, highlighting the past year’s accomplishments while also setting the tone for the year ahead, was lauded by judges in the Special Events category for being a “well planned” and a “must-attend” function.
  • The Port of Long Beach website, redesigned in February, was recognized in the Website category for delivering an up-to-date and mobile friendly platform. Judges said the revamped polb.com is “visually attractive and dynamic.”
  • The Port of Long Beach Academy of Global Logistics Pathway at Cabrillo High School links curriculum and activities to the goods movement sector and demonstrates a “long-time commitment and community engagement,” according to judges of the Community/Education Outreach category.
  • The Port of Long Beach PHOTO Program, an annual collaboration with the Arts Council for Long Beach that highlights the work of amateur and professional photographers, in the Community/Education Outreach category. Judges praised the PHOTO Program for broadening the public’s knowledge of the Port.
  • A canvas tote bag featuring the artwork of Long Beach artist Dave Van Patten was created in partnership with the Arts Council for Long Beach as a keepsake for visitors of the PHOTO Program popup galleries. “It’s not about a giveaway – it’s about tying a community together,” said judges of the Promotional/Advocacy Materials category. 

The Port of Long Beach also collected the AAPA’s Award of Distinction – the equivalent of second-place wins – in six categories:

  • A video featuring drone footage of the men and women constructing the Gerald Desmond Bridge Replacement, set to the inspirational “Simple Gifts” theme from composer Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring.” Judges from the Video category said the entry was “awe-inspiring, nail-biting and brought real emotion.”
  • A video chronicling the Port’s headquarters through more than a century, culminating with the grand opening of a new building in July 2019 at the Long Beach Civic Center. The combination of new and archived footage “incorporates the role and importance of the Port in the City of Long Beach, past and future,” judges of the Video category said.
  • The Harbor Department’s move into the Long Beach Civic Center in 2019 was the inspiration for the 2019 Port of Long Beach Holiday Greeting. Judges in the Miscellaneous category praised the creativity of the 3D card and a digital version shared on social media.
  • The Move 415 Ocean campaign, deemed by judges in the Overall Campaign category as “creative” and “well-executed,” facilitated the Port’s move from interim headquarters to a new, permanent administration building at the new Long Beach Civic Center complex.
  • The Port’s refreshed branding, launched in February, has a “very modern and sleek look” while also exhibiting leadership in the goods movement industry, according to judges of the Overall Campaign category.
  • The Tidetables and Reference Guide Brochure facilitates safe and efficient navigation for thousands of vessel calls each year and is regarded as an “essential product” for its target audience, according to judges of the Directories/Handbooks category.

 Additionally, the Port of Long Beach received the AAPA’s Award of Distinction – the equivalent of third-place wins – in two categories:

  • Men and women who ensure the ongoing success of the Port were celebrated in the video “Salute to Port Workers.” Judges in the Video category cited strong production values accompanied by Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man.”

The 2019 Strategic Plan Update was praised by judges in the Miscellaneous category for being “well thought-out” and “a nice aesthetic to go along with great content” while charting a future course for the Port based on direction from the Harbor Commission.

Close All The Schools Now

Reporters Desk
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Close All The Schools Now

Written By Jason Pramas 

Act today to prevent a coronavirus explosion

You would think that no one had ever seen a zombie movie.

Hollywood zombies have become the stuff of jokes in recent years. A played overused metaphor—drifting so far from its original meaning that it has become meaningless. An immediately recognizable trope used by lesser storytellers in place of the better and more timely ideas that elude them.

Yet there is one thing zombies remain good for: explaining how viruses spread society wide during a global pandemic. Not all zombies are created by viruses in the increasingly puerile TV shows and films dedicated to them. But all zombies spread their contagion by close person-to-person contact of some sort.

.Read more at https://digboston.com/close-all-the-schools-now/

COVID-19 Can Be Curbed In Multicultural Communities

Reporters Desk
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COVID-19 Can Be Curbed In Multicultural Communities

“Strength Thru Unity” will focus on the hard-hit impact of COVID-19 among Americans of color. Some of the nation’s most influential multicultural leaders will discuss why there is a disproportionate risk among people of color and their recommendations for how to curb this pandemic. 

Topics to be discussed include health and economic disparities, the rise in hate crimes, looming evictions, remote learning, and the White House response and solutions to stop COVID-19 from impacting Blacks, Latinos, Asians, and Native-Americans.

A new poll from UC Berkeley’s Institute for Governmental Studies reveals this unequal deadly threat on minority communities read the full story here: www.tinyurl.com/an-unequal-threat

Time: 1 p.m. PST Aug. 26 via Live Stream on Zoom and on KPFK.org

Details: STU will also broadcast on KPFK-FM 90.7 at 5 p.m. PST Aug. 28 at Pacifica radio station KPFK-FM can be heard throughout Southern California.

WHY: Today, there are over five million cases of COVID-19 in the US and over 150,000 deaths. In California, there are over 400,000 cases and 42,000 deaths so far. Most of California’s COVID-19 cases are among young people ages 18-49. Hospitalization is on the rise in poor Latino and Black communities statewide.

Coronavirus Update

Reporters Desk
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Coronavirus Update

LOS ANGELES — 11th District Councilmember, Mike Bonin reported Aug. 22, that Los Angeles is making steady progress toward getting the COVID-19 pandemic under control. In the weeks since the city paused reopening efforts and redoubled focus on avoiding crowds, wearing masks, and practicing good hygiene, L.A. has seen the rate that people are spreading the virus shrink.

According to public health officials, there have been roughly 28,000 new cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in LA over the past two weeks, which amounts to about 275 cases per 100,000 residents. Once a county has reduced its infection rate to fewer than 200 cases per 100,000 residents for at least two weeks, schools in the county are allowed to begin asking the state to reopen with new safety precautions in place. While it will likely be a while before schools are ready to reopen, the progress L.A. is making in reducing the infection rate is showing that reopening is within sight. 

Please, continue doing your part to wear a mask, wash your hands, and stay at least six feet apart from people who do not live in your home.

Councilmember Joe Buscaino Honors Kobe Bryant

Reporters Desk
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Councilmember Joe Buscaino Honors Kobe Bryant

SAN PEDRO — Los Angeles City Councilmember Joe Buscaino celebrates Kobe Bryant Day in Los Angeles with a video tribute to the legend. 

Watch the video on Facebook: www.facebook.com/JoeBuscaino/videos/642635433356853 

Your Child’s Mental Health During COVID-19

Reporters Desk
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Your Child’s Mental Health During COVID-19

Los Angeles County understands these next few days and possibly weeks may be tough as you start the school year online. There will be frustrations with the transition. Feelings of anxiety, stress, anger or depression during this time are normal.

Parents and caregivers should be on the lookout for signs of anxiety and depression in children. This can take different forms – being withdrawn, acting out, disobeying, being tearful. 

Reach out if you need support:

  1. Call the LA County Department of Mental Health (DMH) 24/7 Help Line at 800- 854-7771. The call is free and confidential.
  2. Call your pediatrician or healthcare provider if you are concerned about your child. If you don’t have a health care provider, dial 2-1-1 and we’ll connect you to one.

Visit DMH online at dmh.lacounty.gov/resources for resources related to back to-school and other mental health topics.

Learning Together Safely

To help children get back to school, and parents back to work, LA County will be sharing regular content on resources and support for distance learning. Turn change and stress caused by COVID-19 into strength, growth and resilience this new school year. LA County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Debra Duardo, Department of Public Health Director Dr. Barbara Ferrer, and Department of Mental Health Director Dr. Jonathan Sherin tell you how. https://www.youtube.com/learning-together-safely

What Happened When Alex Cockburn, Bukowski Walked into a Sushi Bar?

James Preston Allen
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What Happened When Alex Cockburn, Bukowski Walked into a Sushi Bar?

I was reminded earlier this year about a funny incident that happened back in 1992, when Alex Cockburn, noted columnist for The Nation magazine, was introduced to the famous American poet Charles Bukowski. My memory was sparked by the appearance of Laura Flanders, Cockburn’s niece and a radio journalist in her own right, who was speaking at a KPFK radio event at the Palos Verdes Art Center.

It was the year after the end of Operation Desert Storm, the first Gulf War with Iraq, and a month before the November 1992 general election that would see William Jefferson Clinton elected president. We had published several of Cockburn’s columns on that war, which was a real privilege for a small alternative newspaper struggling for recognition on the edge of the Los Angeles metropolis. Cockburn was someone who Rep. Henry Gonzales, a Texas Democrat, called, “One of the most perceptive and … brilliant minds we have in America.”

Somehow our then-editor convinced him to come to San Pedro and address not one audience, but two. The first was at Los Angeles Harbor College and the second at the Pacific Unitarian Church in Palos Verdes. It was advertised as “Random Lengths News presents An October Surprise, An Evening with Alexander Cockburn. These two programs mark Mr. Cockburn’s first speaking engagements in the Los Angeles Harbor Area.” Tickets were $8.

As I recall, the events were well attended with several hundred in attendance. I had the privilege of giving the venerated journalist a tour of the San Pedro Bay harbors. Driving over the Vincent Thomas Bridge, Cockburn looked out on the industrial expanse of the twin harbors with thousands of containers and terminals that had imported Toyotas.

“Ah, here’s the national trade deficit!” he announced.

He kind of laughed with his Irish accent as though he had discovered some new continent.

Later that evening I had scheduled a dinner with the RLn staff and Cockburn at Senfuku, our favorite sushi bar on 6th Street in San Pedro. We reserved the large table on the upper level of the restaurant. As I entered I noticed a familiar face sitting alone at the bar: It was none other than Charles Bukowski, the poet. I said hello in passing as he sat drinking a large Sapporo beer and eating sushi. He had recently given his once-in-a-life time endorsement of our newspaper and we had gotten to know each other over a very long night of drinking and conversation.

Just as I was sitting down, I realized what an astounding coincidence this was to have two great literary figures in the same room at the same time.

“What great conversation would the two of them have?” I asked myself. 

I immediately got up and walked back to the sushi bar and invited Hank to come and meet Alex.  Now, for all of Buk’s bluster and bodacious writing about his adventures in bars and bedrooms, he was actually kind of a private person, that is, until you put him in front of an audience with a bottle of beer reading his poetry.

So, it took a bit of cajoling to get him to come over and meet Alex.

Well, I never expected what happened next. I was imagining some great discussion of politics or literature or even philosophy, but no. For most of the evening they talked about cats!

Bukowski and his wife, Linda, had a whole family of felines with odd names like Mystery B, Ting and Feather, and apparently Cockburn, like many writers, had some cats, too. This was as if Ernest Hemmingway had met Edward R. Murrow and the only thing they found to converse about was their cats.

I was dumbstruck. By the end of the evening, I had to chuckle over the entire conversation and my own expectations of what I thought would happen. Life is full of surprises and they often aren’t the ones you’d imagine. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be surprises.

Standing in the Shadow of Charles Bukowski

James Preston Allen
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Standing in the Shadow of Charles Bukowski

Reflection on the rise and fall and death of the American poet

It’s getting pretty damn crowded trying to stand in the shadow of the poet Charles Bukowski. It’s like apostles to Christ or worse. Everyone has their own version of who he was–however this time we actually have his original words, and don’t have to rely on the delusions of the mind long after the prophet has died. Don’t get me wrong, there still will be stories told by the devotees, there will be exaggerations and lies, and half truths told and repeated as truth incarnate. So much so that the shadow of Bukowski will grow and expand until that shadow no longer represents the figure who cast it. Luckily we still have his words.

The damnable thing about standing too close to the genius of such a lucky muse is that it is almost  impossible not getting lost in this shadow and losing your own style and sense. Such original power is intoxicating and seductive, seducing those close enough and even those at a distance into chanting mindless refrains like Krishna followers banging drums at the airport.

Everyone does want a hero, and Buk is the best anti-hero-hero to come along since Jack Kerouack.  So he serves his purpose, gives purpose and meaning to a lot of meaningless lives, who would be lost in the dive bars and dead end jobs of this metropolis on the desert.

He always had the sense to strike his own matches in an otherwise dark and crowded closet of people who couldn’t find a light in a butane refinery.

Now for all those who follow who are trying to squeeze into that same closet, pull the chain on that same dim light and strike those already burnt matches, just don’t even try. But try as they do it’s just not the same as when Bukowski sat alone striking match after match dropping the spent ones on the floor like so many smoked poems.

We’re damn lucky though to have his words and not just others remembering those words. Damn lucky!

— James Preston Allen, 1994

His Poems Are Timeless

RLn
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His Poems Are Timeless

By RD Armstrong, Guest Writer

When I first read this poem, Dinosauria, We, by Charles Bukowski, I thought, “This doesn’t sound like the Bukowski that I grew up on.”

But after I checked and was told that it was, I got that old sinking feeling like the one I got from reading Pulp, Bukowski’s last book of fiction. That book seemed to be written by three different voices. It doesn’t matter because I guess I don’t really see what the point is. I’ve read Buk for about 50 years. I’d like to say that I often pull out my favorite volume but during the financial adjustment in 2008, I sold most of my Bukowski library to make the rent. I miss them, but I had to live with my mistakes. So I did. Even so, every time I read one of his poems, I find a deeper richness than I had when I read it before — say 20 years earlier. I’d say that this must be because I’m maturing. Life experience either makes you stronger or it kills you and I’m still at it. So, the reason I mention this is that Buk, well, he had this gift. Many of his poems are timeless. I mean there’s no time stamp, almost no location markers. His poetry (and stories) could be about anywhere in the world. The same losers who populate every slum and after-work dive, every horse track, every “flop” can be found from Los Angeles to Rangoon. Sure, the language is different but what they talk about is the same. That was his draw. He could address that universal theme.So, I am not even remotely surprised at how accurate this poem, Dinosauria, We, is. After all, the themes are timeless, aren’t they?  Buk’s been in the ground for nearly 30 years and he’s still relevant. I should be so lucky!

RD Armstrong, also known as Raindog, has been a poet for more than 50 years. In the past 25 years, he’s published thousands of poets from around the world and the United States. These days, he focuses his energy on procuring donations of personal protective equipment for homeless shelters, and money for poets in need, poetry centers and food banks — “much more rewarding!”

Reflections of Buk at 100

RLn
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Reflections of Buk at 100

By Michael D. Meloan, Guest Writer

When I was 16, my friends and I cruised Sunset Strip and brought back the LA Free Press, which ran Charles Bukowski’s column, Notes of a Dirty Old Man. We sat inside a backyard plywood shed that one of the neighborhood fathers had built to keep us out of trouble. As we smoked Tareytons and drank Colt 45, we read the column out loud. It was an explosion of hookers, philosophers, madmen and racetrack junkies — my early education.

Fifteen years later, my girlfriend Jan was working at the Dew Drop Inn, a health food restaurant in South Redondo. One day, she mentioned that the owner, Linda Lee Beighle, was dating a poet named Charles Bukowski. There he was again.

A few months later, I visited the Dew Drop for lunch. Bukowski unexpectedly walked in, spitting venom because his Mac had somehow deleted a couple of new poems. Linda mentioned that I was a software guy.

“Are you any good?” he asked.

My father taught me always to say yes. A few hours later, the poems were back and we sat drinking red wine while he asked me questions about how computers might be used to predict winners at the racetrack.

In the fall of that year, Bukowski invited me over for the evening. Just the two of us and his beloved plastic goose with a light bulb inside. He uncorked the first bottle of red.

“You seem nervous, kid,” he said, pouring.

I took a big drink. I was nervous. But after a few glasses, the night took off. We were laughing and drinking until 3 a.m. With a stubby Indian Beedi dangling from his lips, he flicked his butane lighter a few times. A flame suddenly shot up like a hissing blowtorch.

His left eyebrow sizzled and crackled as he jerked his head back and went, “Arrrrgh!”

Later, he told me that I danced with the goose on my head and recited a long raving monologue about sex and death and science. I don’t remember any of it, but he always did.

Hank’s reputation for wild drunken blowouts was real. But on any random evening, he was hard at work. One of his most important attributes was discipline. He wrote every day — sick, exhausted, hung over — it didn’t matter. He told me that he was like a spider building a web; it was in his DNA to pound the typer.

In a one-on-one encounter, Hank demanded your complete attention, even when he was drunk. Sitting on the couch in the living room, he would take a drink, then a drag and his eye would cut over at you — scrutinize you. There was no place to hide.

He was complex, outrageous and sensitive; loyal to his friends. When I was breaking up with Jan, he called to see how I was doing. He knew I was depressed and suggested that I come over for a drink. When I got there, Linda poured three glasses of good Cabernet. We talked for a while, and I told Hank that a literary agent had contacted me after I had some fiction published in Wired magazine. I asked him what he thought about agents.

He paused, took a long drag, and said:

“Listen kid, the whole thing comes down to this: If you want to write, you’re going to write and you’d better write it your way. If you’re after money or fame or groupies, that’s something else. Then you’ll do it their way … and they will smash you down into a flattened turd.”

He took a big drink, then cut his eye over at me smiling and said, “Ring the bells of the city. The old man has spoken.”

Now that we have reached the Bukowski centenary, I think this is his lasting message: Your life may sometimes look like shit, but there is beauty in art. It can help us rise up from the miasma. Take the gamble. Do it on your own terms.

Michael D. Meloan’s work has appeared in Wired, Huffington Post, Buzz, LA Weekly and in many anthologies. He was an interview subject in the documentaries Bukowski: Born Into This and Joe Frank: Somewhere Out There. With Joe Frank, he co-wrote a number of radio shows that aired across the National Public Radio syndicate. He also co-authored the novel The Shroud with his brother, Steven.

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