Reply With QuoteYes, thats Venice Beach
Is this filmed at Venice Beach? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTo7BXlqcHs)
Yes, thats Venice Beach
Yep. That's Venice Beach. Although about 30 years ago.
My wife's family is from Venice, her Mom, Dad, Grandmother and Grandfather all went to Venice High. Her Dad worked at POP (Pacific Ocean Park), an amusement park on the old Venice Pier.
Her Grandfather was the first Lifeguard in Venice, in the 1910s. He was first a police officer in Venice, and his duties were watching over the folks at the Venice Plunge. A semi enclosed indoor pool, open to the ocean. He just kind of made the transition from cop to lifeguard, and he, and a guy named George Freeth from Santa Monica pretty much started the LA City/County Lifeguard Service.
Venice was pretty cool in the early '70s. Although not a "legal" nude beach, nobody enforced the law against nudity. I was a courier driver for a computer company then, and my route took me to Santa Monica from Manhattan Beach. I always arranged to be in the Venice area at lunchtime, and would take my lunch out onto the Venice Pier.
I had an awesome pair of binoculars back then.
We went there lots of weekends as kids in high school and JC. It was a fun time, even in the 80's.I ended up in a crowd scene for a music video for The Fat Boys, but I never could find it anywhere.
In my 37.6 year career with the City of Los Angeles often working all over Venice, I always wondered if the Venice canals would ever be restored. They finally have:
http://www.westland.net/venice/images/canalstoday.jpg
http://www.westland.net/venice/images/canals1913.jpg
Venice became a part of the City of Los Angeles a long while back.
Always amazed me how the place remained a shithole so long, while the surrounding areas flourished.
But today it's really changed.
Every home has a historic story, most pre-1960's homes a facinating, unique original story.
I love taking people through there and giving my Venice tour speil.
East Venice areas changed their names a while back because of Venice really fell into hard times.
But now want to change their names back to Venice or Marina Del Rey (LA County).
Famous Venice residents over the years:
Cornball Lawrence Welk
The Lennon Sisters (Welk Discovered them while they were performing at the Elks Lodge on 6th st according to the locals. Many other stories float around, but the locals generally swear by this one.)
Shirley Temple
Jack La Laine
Gangster Mickey Cohen (off'd Bugsy Segal).
Jim Morrison of the Doors, and the Doors.
The Shelby Mustang factory was located in Venice.
Chick Lambert and his dog Storm.
Julia Roberts, Kate Beckinsale and Anjelica Huston, actors Nicolas Cage, Tim Meadows, Robert Hegyes, Michael T. Weiss, and musicians Perry Farrell, Joshua Kadison.
Actor Robert Downey Jr.
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Pro wrestler Hulk Hogan
Carol Burnet
Venice Pier is the most forgotten pleasure pier on the Coasts.
Most remember the nearby Ocean Park Pier as a shithole, but I remember when it was clean and it Pacific Ocean Park rivaled Disneyland.
Last of the great indoor dark ride amusement parks.
But that was short lived, and it fell into decay fast.
It often appears in Late 1950's early 1960's TV shows.
http://www.westland.net/venice/images/aerial1941.jpg
Ocean Park Pier, Venice Pier, Sunset Pier
Venice High School is still a thriving place.
The LADWP sponsors their Science Bowl Team and they give a good account of themselves Nationally every year.
Oh how I loved Venice Beach back in the day!!! I even spoke to the Rasta man (1st guy in the video) a few times, he was a local bum who got his face in tons of videos.
In my 37.6 year career with the City of Los Angeles often working all over Venice, I always wondered if the Venice canals would ever be restored. They finally have:
http://www.westland.net/venice/images/canalstoday.jpg
http://www.westland.net/venice/images/canals1913.jpg
\
Venice became a part of the City of Los Angeles a long while back.
Always amazed me how the place remained a shithole so long, while the surrounding areas flouished.
But today it's really changed.
Every home has a historic story, most pre-1960's homes a facinating, unique original story.
I love taking people through there and giving my Venice tour speil.
Famous Venice residents over the years:
Cornball Lawrence Welk
The Lennon Sisters (Welk Discovered them while they were performing at the Elks Lodge on 6th st)
Shirley Temple
Jack La Lane
Gangster Mickey Cohen (off'd Bugsy Segal).
Jim Morrison of the Doors, and the Doors.
The Shelby Mustang factory was located in Venice.
Venice Pier is the most forgotten pleasure pier on the Coasts.
Most remember the nearby Ocean Park Pier as a shithole, but I remember when it was clean and it Pacific Ocean Park rivaled Disneyland.
Last of the great indoor dark ride amusement parks.
But that was short lived, and it fell into decay fast.
It often appears in Late 1950's early 1960's TV shows.
http://www.westland.net/venice/images/aerial1941.jpg
Ocean Park Pier, Venice Pier, Sunset Pier
Venice High School is still a thriving place.
The LADWP sponsors their Science Bowl Team and they give a good account of themselves Nationally every year.
What do you do for the city, can I ask?
What do you do for the city, can I ask?
HVAC and Elect generation. Did you roller skate there?
If ya drive along the streets closest to the beach, notice the homes are built on stilts. Ya gotta look close, but most are.
They simply look like two storys today,, but actually the lower out-of-code living areas were no permit bootlegged in after flood control finally took over.
The (called "10 year" by the locals) storm tides used to come in as far as 4th street, before the piers were demolished and the beaches widened.
Those same (ten year) Pacific storms would continue on over the desert, and the Las Vegas Casinos flash flooded too.
People forget that, but it did happen. That's why the new mega-casinos are built up higher off LV Blvd, and the downtown casinos are better protected by the Freemont Street Experience structure and storm diversion system below it.
Seal Beach, a few miles down the coast from Venice, still gets get their streets flooded by those ten year storm tides.
A few more Venice residents......
Victor Mature (My MIL called him Victor Manure)
Jack Webb (Dragnet)
My Cousin dated The Lennon's nephew, Tony Lennon. Which led to a child, Carrie Lennon, which she had at 16. We all went to the Lennon home one Christmas Eve. calling it a "home" is an understatement. More like a mansion. They had the Christmas tree in one large room. When you opened the door, you couldn't even walk in the room, because there were presents sloped from the doorway, nearly up to the ceiling on the other side of the room. The only part of the Christmas you could see was the star at the very top. Lot's of kids in that family.
That's the old school Venice, it was an incredible place about 15 years ago. I went back about 2 years ago - alot has changed. It's all hood rats & gang members hanging out on the corners harassing the girls as they walk by. It gives you a really unsafe fealling now.
Posting Permissions