Every bottle of wine tells its own unique story. Varietal, vintage, and region are a fair introduction to a new wine, but they do not provide the full story. They are merely bookmarks of the grape’s life on the vine, explaining what grapes were used, along with when and where the harvest took place. Indicators such as varietal, vintage, and region may also be identical on any two labels

Memorial Day 2020

Absent from this year’s Memorial Day observances were the ceremonies held at many of the southland’s cemeteries and other landmarks. However, despite social distancing and other restrictions brought on by COVID-19, this Memorial Day, Southern Californians from Inland Empire to the shores of Orange County and Los Angeles County could share in one common experience.

It seems no novel has been adapted to the motion picture screen more times than The Great Gatsby. F. Scott Fitzgerald's work has been filmed five times. Notable versions include a 1926 silent film starring Warner Baxter and a very young William Powell; a 1949 Golden Age motion picture with Alan Ladd and Shelly Winters; and arguably the most popular adaptation in 1974, featuring Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, and Sam Waterston, with a script by Francis Ford Coppola. The most recent epic stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, and Tobey Maguire. Other popular titles that have enjoyed numerous reboots include William “Wild Bill” Wellman’s A Star is Born, and most recently, Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.

Mention the “Port of Los Angeles”, and the most familiar images that immediately come to mind may include massive container ships, trucks, cars, and an array of work boats all contributing to the Port’s status as a center of international trade.

Ever since the genetic code carried by the DNA double helix was deciphered, it has been the dream of biologists and medical doctors to be able to modify the code for the betterment of humankind.

USS R-7 Submarine, launched in 1919, on maneuvers with Palos Verdes Hills in the background.

After construction of the San Pedro breakwater was completed in 1912, Los Angeles outer harbor was used to support U.S. naval operations. As early as 1913, submarines would berth along the San Pedro waterfront. But it was not until 1914 that the Harbor Commission allowed the Navy the use of City Dock No. 1 and part of its transit sheds as a temporary base for submarines.

Marymount California University is a private Catholic four-year university situated on the picturesque bluff on the Palos Verdes Peninsula that once served as an all-girls Catholic high school and a Catholic two-year junior college. MCU embraces is Catholic identity in the tradition of its founding order, the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary. The chapel on campus conducts weekly services and special holiday masses which the community is welcome to attend.

Our Moon, the moon of planet Earth, is special. The fifth largest moon in our solar system, our Moon is an old soul sister of planet Earth. She has been in orbit around the Earth since the time the early solar system took shape. Our Moon was born in a fiery tangle between a Mars-sized object and Earth, during the early period, when our solar system looked more like a free-for-all shooting gallery with bullets the size of planets whizzing around, and no sheriff in charge. She has been slowly tamed and nurtured over four and a half billion years, and now, literally embraced in a waltz that we call tidal locking, with her face toward mother Earth.

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There is little doubt that Southern California has played a significant role in aerospace history. Much of that can be traced to the South Bay and other areas of Los Angeles County. The first airshow in the United States was held on a hilltop on a parcel of land that was once included in a Spanish Land Grant known as Rancho San Pedro and later developed by Manuel Dominguez.

Have you ever thought about the universe? How big is it? How and when did it begin? What does it contain? How will it end? Will it end? These “cosmic questions” were once the domain of philosophers. Remarkably, in the 20th century, such questions became the purview of science fiction and TV comedies.

In our modern world, people often lose sight of the past or remain entirely unaware of the trailblazers and pioneers who paved the way. For decades, Mary Pickford’s name was associated with her appearance. She was viewed as “the girl with the golden curls” and the picture of sweetness and light. What few may have realized is that she was a powerful titan of industry, a creative force, and a visionary ahead of her time.

Even when the world is calm or ridden by an Armageddon, people always have a choice in all the things they do.