Last night the conventioneers were invited to Metropolis Books for a wine and cheese gathering and as you can see we were pretty much crammed in there. I got my free wine, a bit of salmon, bought a book or two, and wriggled out of there like a worm from a hook. Funny thing is, I was at the Biltmore before I drove over there and parked in front. After I got out the door into the fresh air, I was kidnapped by Kat Richardson, Denise Dietz, Sharon Rowse, and a coterie of seven other very fun and funny ladies, where we walked to get a bite. Except we kept on awalkin' looking for that elusive cafe which was "just down the street." We ended up walking about five city blocks (and believe me, no one walks in L.A. cause there ain't nothin' to see and no place to eat. This isn't New York or San Francisco) and ended up back at the Omni to eat at California Pizza Kitchen. So then, I had to get a cab to take me back to Metropolis where I could drive back to my hotel. That's how it goes in L.A. Take a cab to get your car.
As a kid, we never walked through downtown. We caught a bus to go to the place we intended and maybe walked a few feet. We took a bus to go to the May Company. We took a bus to go to Newberry's for lunch. But we didn't walk there. However, my architecture whoredom did get to luxuriate in the brick facades and daring Rococo of another era. I do love a decorative fire escape.
Look how her hand blurs over the register. It must have been a good sale.
And then, THEN, on Saturday, the highlight of my day! All my life as a kid growing up in L.A. I have wanted to ride on Angel's Flight, the shortest railway in the world. For most of my childhood, it wasn't running, wasn't even really there. But I knew about it, read about it and wondered why I couldn't. It's a long story, of course, but today, as part of our LCC ticket, I got my chance. It's not quite in the same location of the original, but still, it's the idea that these genteel cars were built to take passengers up the steep Bunker Hill so that its wealthiest residents didn't have to walk. But for a nickel, even a poor kid could take the very short ride.
When I'm traveling down the 101, it just doesn't feel right until I catch a glimpse of city hall peeking through the canyons of skyscrapers and braving it through the smog. This is my hometown.
More Angel's Flight from outside and--finally!--inside.
Oh yeah. And I'm also at a conference.
This morning I saw Tom Sawyer, William Link, Paul Levine, and Robert Levinson on their panel "Creating and Sustaining the Mystery Series." Sawyer and Link were both TV writers and gave us Murder, She Wrote, while Link and late writing partner Richard Levinson, created and wrote Mannix, McCloud, and the venerable Columbo. Link confessed that the character of Cloumbo came from Petrovich, the inspector from Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. Link saw Columbo as a solitary character, one who just showed up as a fish out of water in the homes of the very rich, and once he solved the case, would disappear into the ether again until the next murder. There were no other reoccuring characters, (unless, of course, you count the dog, the car, and the raincoat), and though Columbo talked of various family members including a wife, they were never seen. It was Link's contention that maybe they never existed, that it was all in Columbo's mind, but actor Peter Falk, who played him, nixed the idea as an actor's perogitive to invent the character's backstory, and that means a real wife and family.
The famous raincoat was also Falk's own. The Smithsonian wanted it but Falk still keeps it in his closet and, according to Link, keeps it fed with the occasional dish of cream.
Sawyer, longtime writer for Murder, She Wrote, held up a mug he had recieved during the show's run. On one side it read "Cabot Cove Coroner" and on the other "If you lived in Cabot Cove, you'd be dead by now."
Pictured below are "Two Ladies from London" Jacqueline Winspear and Rhys Bowen, talking about the differences between the classes in England, not only of style, but culture, mores, and attitudes. It was full of the kind of stuff that I lap up, little tid bits of language and nuance you can't get anywhere else. They also spoke about the roles of women and how the women of England served in the armed forces from World War I and WWII and how American soldiers were instructed to salute women in uniform (as they did not for American service women) as the British women earned their stripes the hard way...as did these talented ladies.
And finally, we were treated to an interview of Lee Child by novelist Greg Hurwitz, with amusing and often touching and thoughtful comments by Child.
Tonight is the awards banquet and so there is will be more news to come in Part Two of Saturday. Stay tuned.
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