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L.A. AFFAIRS

Relationships with Joni Mitchell Joni Mitchell's music has loomed large over her ideas of love and California. Now she's focusing on the positive songs.By Laura Sturza September 27, 2013

I held Joni Mitchell responsible for my status as a perennially single woman. Maybe that was too much to pin on a singer-songwriter. But early on, Joni's music schooled me about what might be ahead on the romantic front. Ever since I heard her sing "Court and Spark," her musings about love and California have worked their way into my psyche and my life.

At 16, I hadn't kissed a boy, but I'd already learned how he could court me, love me, cheat on me, and take off to play his music in a desert town. I applied Joni's lessons to my imaginary boyfriends. Through those fantasies, I'd had some pretty advanced relationships long before I ventured into actual dating territory.

Under the influence of that voice — a soaring soprano that could go anywhere and do anything — I imagined a passionate life with a man I adored, a man who loved me back.

To be fair, I can see now that my skewed view of romance wasn't completely Joni's fault. As a hard-core Partridge Family fan a few years earlier, I'd cultivated many of the same beliefs. Music has always held sway over me. Whether the performer was David Cassidy or Robert Plant, I listened for the same message: Love is the greatest, love is the most gut-wrenching.

Listening to songs like "This Flight Tonight," I understood that lamenting over love offered nearly the same bang as finding love.

You got the touch so gentle and sweetBut you've got that look so criticalNow I can't talk to you babyI get so weakSometimes I think love is just mythical

Even Joni's images of California had their way with me, luring me from my comfy hometown in Maryland to a spot squarely within reach of two famous landscapes from her songs: Laurel Canyon and the Pacific Ocean. Because I hadn't tracked down my man on the East Coast, I suspected he might be tucked away somewhere in the thick of Joni Country.

So I moved to Los Angeles and nearly landed in the arms of a skittish man who responded to my mention of Joni's lyrics online. I'm guessing at least a few women might pause before dating a guy who professed his love for Joni's music. After all, most of the men in her songs don't stick around. Later he made and broke three dates in quick succession.

It's been quite a while since Joni's music made its initial imprint on me. But I am still bent on seeking out anything Joni related, including an L.A. art show of her paintings and a tribute performance in which actor-singer John Kelly nailed the essence of her songs.

When I had the chance to see her live at the Greek Theatre in 2000, I made sure I went with a friend who shared my passion for her music. I wasn't about to exult over prospective and failed romances with just anyone.

A few years later, I took a new beau to UCLA's Royce Hall for an Alberta Ballet concert, which was set to her music. My date wasn't a real fan of hers, but lots of us will try almost anything on the early dating frontier. The show featured songs rife with ecological and political commentary. Post-performance my date and I hashed out the evening's virtues and flaws. There was some gorgeous dancing, certainly. But what surprised us was the relentlessly dark view the songwriter presented of a world bent on destruction. The paving of paradise had turned into a full-tilt warning that Armageddon was near. The absence of love songs was conspicuous.

I hadn't realized how dark Joni could go. I suppose the high notes that she easily finessed had helped me block out the underlying black and discordant tones.

Since that evening, my affinity for her music hasn't so much cooled as shifted. Her moments of optimism are what I find more appealing these days. I cashed in my long-term relationship with lamentation for the belief that lasting love is possible for those who are lucky enough to find it, choose it, and bust their chops to maintain it.

It's been two years since that ballet performance, and now I'm engaged to Tom, who was my date that night. Much to my surprise, he has attended other dance concerts with me.

He works in the transportation industry, and coincidentally transit plays a big role in the Joni oeuvre. Planes, freeways and cars regularly keep people apart. When my fiancé talks about drivers and passengers, though, I don't think of cabbies coming to take lovers away as they do in "Big Yellow Taxi." I think of the drivers going to airports to bring lovers home to their adoring partners.

Clearly, all the years of pining to the soundtrack of Joni's voice paid off. I'm going to marry the man I love, whom I met in California. And I hear that next year, the Alberta Ballet will set dances to her love songs. I suspect I'll have a pretty good date that night.

Sturza, formerly a Times Community News reporter, lives in Glendale and is a freelance writer and graduate advisor at USC.

OPINIONDon’t let the outdoor concert spoilers win: Guest commentary

By Laura Lynn Sturza, 09/25/13

With summer having wound down, I mourn the end of my favorite season, and also the time when outdoor concerts are everywhere. But some experiences this season have left me slightly sour about my concert-going brethren.

They are a vocal group, bent on the destruction of what has always been one of summer’s great joys — hearing music out-of-doors. Rising against them presents great challenges. These aren’t people who respond to a polite “Shhh.” Indeed, outdoor concerts seem to invite people to respond in a more animated fashion. But just how lively should things get?

We booked what we thought would be a perfect round of concerts, including stops at the Greek Theater and the Ford Amphitheater. We didn’t realize we’d end up moving our seats a few times in a failed attempt to enjoy the music.

The Ford Amphitheater featured a wonderful show by Vaud & the Villains, a modern version of a New Orleans orchestra and cabaret. We would have enjoyed it so much more without the audience’s sideshow.

People behind us talked loudly enough for us to learn the blow-by-blow of their love-life travesties. (Though it wasn’t surprising to hear they might be having such difficulties. Perhaps their former dates were weary of endless chatter at inopportune moments).

At the Greek, we heard fragments of the BB King/Peter Frampton show while two women in front of us sang every song at full steam — not quite the performance we’d ponied up our cash to hear.

Then there was the sea of flashing phones at both venues. We searched for a break in the visual blight of arms raised high with recording devices. I wondered whether these “documentarians” experienced anything more than the thrill of capturing images to prove they’d been there, having missed most of the nuance of the live show itself.

The glaring lights of their “cameras” were a sad reminder of a time when people honored their performers with light at the end of the show, pledging allegiance with a lit match, begging for more music rather than a better photo op.

Then I noticed that I felt bad because I too was missing out on the shows, while so busily judging the behavior of others.

I also wondered why security guards didn’t enforce the no-photo policy; then realized there were just too many people with phones aloft. The small army of security couldn’t contain them.

At the Greek, we finally left when a fellow tossed his beer on us and six other folks.

Perhaps I’ve turned into a hardcore grouch — wanting to deprive people of their bona fide freedom of self-expression. It seems that viewers have grown so accustomed to telling everything about themselves on multiple platforms (or watching others do it); that they’ve forgotten how to listen.

Now for my full disclosure moment; I admit that I’m the worst kind of complainer on this subject — a reformed concert boor. As a teenager I was the girl who stood in front of you as you struggled to see past me. I even spent one summer making a replica of an Elton John costume, covering my shirt with feathers. The poor people seated

behind me pursued their only possible retribution — picking the feathers off the back of my shirt when I got rowdy. In my defense, when I became an adult I realized that my behavior affected others. If I wanted to be a good citizen, I’d have to find some better outlets for my self-expression.

Even with my catalogue of grumbling about live music shows, I haven’t given up hope. I’ve certainly been to shows in recent years that are more like the concerts I anticipated this summer; where all kinds of people came together with a shared passion for music. People smiled at one another, heads bobbed — but not so wildly as to distract those seated behind them. If there was space for it, dancing took place.

After our trips to the Ford and the Greek, we thought about skipping a planned outing to the Hollywood Bowl for an L.A. Phil show. But we went deciding that we couldn’t let the concert vandals win. To our surprise and delight, this venue posted warnings that unruly folks risked being booted out. When one audience member yelled something to Conductor Bramwell Tovey, he responded with an amiably delivered “Now shut up!”

I’m guessing we lucked out since our third concert was classical. The thought of risking attendance at rock or pop shows is still a bit off-putting. But at future shows where people get disorderly, I can continue to practice all of that Buddhist stuff that’s been thrummed into me as an Angeleno. I get to picture good things for the documentarians, the sing-alongers and the loud talkers. And I get to tune them out so I can enjoy the night sky, the musicians, and the good company of my date — all the things I love about live music venues.

Finally, I have a request for you; since I’m sure you’re not the person behaving in the ways I’ve described. But maybe you’re sitting with that person. Maybe you’re listening to them talk or watching them take pictures. Perhaps you can be their good example, or ask them to tone down their self-expression, just a tad. They might even find they have a whole new experience of concert-going, one in which they appreciate the performance.

Laura Lynn Sturza is a longtime Los Angeles journalist.

Best of L.A. People Issue

Robert Johnson: Lawman of the Cloth

By Laura Sturza Thursday, May, 19 2011

Not many people get credit for both busting cabbies and saving souls. Robert Johnson, as a senior transportation investigator for the Los Angeles Department of Transportation, runs sting operations to catch taxi drivers who bilk customers.

On Sundays he targets a different set of crooks. As the minister of a small neighborhood church in South L.A., Johnson gives his congregation the ammo to take down their spiritual demons.

Johnson started with the city 30 years ago, as a City Hall parking attendant under Mayor Tom Bradley. At 20, he was fueling and parking cars for City Council members. For the past 21 years he has driven unmarked DOT vehicles to chase down fare-spiking cabbies. Yes, there really is this much drama in taxi regulation.

The DOT has a secret weapon — its female employees. By day the women do their jobs in standard business attire. But on the night of a sting, they’re in Hollywood, wearing heels, stockings, skirts and a good deal of makeup. They act tipsy and hail a licensed cab.

Following hot on the taxi’s heels are Johnson and his team in an unmarked car, tracking the correct fare, watching to see if the driver takes a three-mile route for an eight-block trip. If the women are overcharged, the drivers lose their permits for three years. “They’re through — that’s it,” Johnson says.

They also sting unlicensed drivers, in tandem with Los Angeles Police Department officers. “Bandit” taxis haven’t passed DOT’s criminal background check and drug test, and their cars have not been inspected for safety.

To nail them, a plainclothes investigator or “operative” hails a bandit and negotiates a rate. Meanwhile, Johnson and three of his undercover agents lie in wait. When the operative and the driver strike a deal, the team moves in fast to make the arrest.

The lawbreaker’s car is impounded for 30 days, putting many out of business. “He leaves there either needing a cab or he has to walk,” Johnson says.

Licensed operators are big fans of the undercover teams. “Drivers call to say, ‘Thank you, because this guy’s been taking our trips,’ ” he says.As for his other gig, Pastor Johnson leads his small congregation in an old building in a depressed area, where he easily talks about God and His nemesis. “It’s kind of an old-fashioned idea, but I believe in the devil,” Johnson says. “He is the one who influences folks to do things God has said not to do.”  

While his flock includes many law-abiding citizens, churchgoers include a former thief and a former gangbanger. The recovering sinners testify about their turnaround: “Several people stood up and said, ‘I know I’m saved because I used to be involved in different activities I’m not involved in, and I no longer go to places I used to go,’ ” Johnson says.

His Sunday job has rubbed off on his city job: He treats everyone as if they were walking into his church. Of the more than 3,000 bad guys he’s arrested, “Most of them will shake my hand and say, ‘Thank you for treating me with respect.’ ”

Yoga Studio Reinvigorates Former Dutton’s Books Building

InYoga Center took over a space that had been a beloved Valley bookstore for decades. By Laura Sturza, February 21, 2011

Who says the fried chicken and fitness crowds can’t happily coexist? Certainly not the people at InYoga Center in Valley Village.

The studio opened in the former Dutton’s Books building last April, and attracts students of all levels – including customers from the Popeye’s Chicken right next door.

“We have a few Popeye’s customers who are now students,” said studio co-owner Julie Buckner. At the risk of disclosing the instructors who might diverge from a health conscious diet, she said there are also “a few unnamed teachers” who get their fill of chicken after class.

This mix of people is in keeping with a studio that replaced Dutton’s Books, a beloved Valley gathering spot for 45 years.

“My friends and I would sit on the floor of Dutton’s during breaks from Oakwood School and read books,” said Buckner. She went to school within walking distance of her new business, and her family’s life remains rooted in the neighborhood. Her children go to the same school and the family lives eight blocks from the studio.

Buckner had a long held dream of opening a yoga studio and boutique that would “serve a need and a desire in the community,” and thought that it would be a good fit in Dutton's former location, she said.

The community is responding. Class sizes have doubled since August, with as many as 55 students filling the 1,600 square- foot space. Now in their tenth month, 3,000 people have practiced at InYoga, choosing from among 50 classes a week.

While most students are from the nearby communities of North Hollywood, Valley Village, Sherman Oaks and Studio City, other regulars come from as far afield as the South Bay and Valencia, said co-owner Kelly Simonsen.

Part of the attraction is the studio’s design. It features wood floors, warm colors on the walls, furniture from around the world, a boutique/gathering area for conversing and bathrooms with spa styled showers.

Clay Kyle is among InYoga’s teachers. He has taught at more than 15 studios in the Los Angeles area during his nine years as an instructor. Kyle is quick to praise the unique qualities that each studio offers. However, he describes InYoga as “probably the most beautiful space I’ve ever taught, as far as a public studio.”

He also praises the owners' commitment to community building, both with students and with teachers.  “Julie and Kelly talk to me personally, they really want my feedback,” Kyle said. The staff also makes every student feel welcome, greeting them as they come in and learning their names, he said.

Such policies were by design. Buckner and Simonsen wanted the studio to seem like a home away from home for students. Buckner went so far as to load up furniture from her house and her mother’s house in order to fill the space with beautiful objects. Students appreciate the ambience they’ve created.

“Just walking in there I feel good,” said student Debby Jay. “I love it -- the color, the floors, the furniture … the environment is very harmonious with how I want to be.”

Jay is one of several former Dutton’s customers who embrace the way the space has been revitalized. “It’s picking up even more of what Dutton’s had,” Jay said. “You don’t go to a bookstore every day. Here, I see people several times a week.”

Another student, Dave Tennan, loved the look of the studio, but also the responsiveness of the staff. “I met the people and I just had confidence the minute I walked in,” Tennan said. It prompted him to become the studio’s first customer to buy a 6-month unlimited pass. He bought it the week they opened and has been an active member since.

While the studio’s appearance and staff are big draws, both students cite the health benefits they receive as a result of their studies.

“I’m able to do things that a lot of people my age can’t do” said Jay, who is 57. “A lot of the poses require a lot of strength or balance … you get stronger and more flexible.”

Both Jay and Tennan relish the quality of instruction offered, and are inspired by their fellow classmates. “I feel honored to be in the presence of the other students and the teachers, so I do my best,” Tennan said.

Tennan brings his yoga practice to his job as a real estate broker. “I try to be balanced and to make other people feel balanced and calm,” Tennan said of his work with clients who are making life-changing decisions.

The range of classes can challenge students looking for a more vigorous workout or a more moderate one. But since the studio aims to welcome people of all ages and experience levels, beginner’s workshops and classes are also offered.  

“In certain parts of town it can seem like a competitive place where there is more showing off,” Jay said of other yoga studios. “I like that everyone (at InYoga) doesn’t have a perfect body,” Jay said. “People are there because they want to feel to feel better.”

What: InYoga CenterWhere: 5142 Laurel Canyon Blvd. Valley Village, CA 91607Contact: (818) 508-8040     www.inyogacenter.com

emmy, The Magazine of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

AMC: Growing Up, Getting Younger

May/June 2005

Laura Sturza

As it turns 20 this year, AMC has plenty to celebrate.

“We moved from something like thirty-fifth place in cable network rankings to fifteenth place,” says Rob Sorcher, senior vice president, programming and production for the movie channel. And, between 2000 and 2004, net’s prime-time reach went from 594,000 to 731,000.

Network honchos attribute the advance to the program shake-up they launched three years ago, spotlighting various movie genres and creating original talk shows that offer film fans an alternative to Entertainment Tonight.

One such show, Sunday Morning Shootout, features two opinionated hosts, producer and former studio executive Peter Guber and Variety’s editor-in-chief, Peter Bart. When the two aren’t duking it out in an industry version of Meet the Press, they’re conversing with the likes of Mel Gibson and Francis Ford Coppola. “What filmgoers tend to get is a steady diet of stars who are on a junket to promote a film,” Bart says. “There really is an appetite for more insight into the filmmaking process, both the art and business of filmmaking.”

Since the hosts already know most of their guests, the atmosphere is informal and candid. “It’s almost like you can start the conversation in the middle,” says Bart. “I think that’s one key factor that sets [the show] apart.”

Another is the frank talk about money. “The economics of it is so tied in to every decision,” says Bart. “As Guber likes to say, ‘show business is business.’”

Also on the slate of original shows is Movie Club with John Ridley. Writer of the films Three Kings and Undercover Brother, and a writer-producer for NBC’s Third Watch, Ridley heads a panel of insiders, including entertainment reporter Zorianna Kit of L.A. station KTLA and entertainment writer Nathan Rabin of the satirical journal The Onion. The group offers a range of views on new releases, and keeps the talk moving at a steady clip.

And new shows are rolling out. The Suite with host Dave Karger of Entertainment Weekly, debuted May 1. The series brings together a director and cast to discuss their latest film, and viewers get to see the group’s dynamics in an unscripted, ensemble interview.

On the promotional side, the network launched its “movie people” campaign, which network execs believe bolsters a feeling of community among viewers. “We shot real people, movie fans, talking passionately about movies and the impact those movies had on their lives,” Sorcher says.

The look is also hipper, with promo spots featuring plenty of young people, as well as folks who could be their parents.

“The steps that we took to make this feel more contemporary, more relevant, were very successful,” Sorcher says. “We were careful not to alienate what was a very large viewing audience, and we have in fact expanded that audience base and added a younger base to it.”

And in a business where youth is almost everything, that’s saying a lot.

YMCA Profile of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa 125 Years: Celebrating the Los Angeles YMCA’s at 125By Laura Sturza April 2007

For Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the L.A. YMCA’s 125th anniversary is very personal. His single, working mother Natalia worked near the Downtown YMCA. As a seven-year-old, he rode the bus with her from their East L.A. home to attend YMCA summer camp. “I really looked forward to going to the Y,” he said. “I remember going to outings, to the beach, to museums… taking archery and gymnastics and playing pool -- spending the day with other boys in a really healthy setting.”

Then and now, the YMCA reflects the mayor’s vision of a diverse community in which people appreciate one another’s likenesses and differences. When he attended camp in the early 1960s, the YMCA was a forerunner with integrating its programs. “Although I remember some struggles with the newness of all that, I also remember the friendships that I developed along racial and ethnic lines,” he said. “The staff treated everybody with the same generosity of spirit and the same affection and support.” It was also a place”to learn about other communities, because we

talked about the neighborhoods that we came from, and we were from all over the city.”

Today, our mayor serves the city’s interests just a few blocks from the where he attended YMCA camp. He wants every L.A. youth to have access to the YMCA, just as he did, because “for many of our kids, this is the only place of refuge.”

Mayor Villaraigosa is deeply aware of the volunteers, donors, members and staff who have helped the YMCA thrive for 125 years. He hopes that the YMCA’s future will include expanded services and facilities, which will continue to provide “a place where kids are off the street and can engage in really positive experiences.”

YMCA Profile of Imelda De LunaThe Celebration of the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles: 125 YearsBy Laura Sturza, April 2007

When Imelda De Luna joined the Weingart Y, she did so mostly for her family. She was used to doing things for others. Imelda had raised five children and served as primary caretaker for four of her seven grandchildren. But four years ago, she decided to apply some of her caretaking skills to her own life.

Inspired by her YMCA coach, Evelyn, Imelda started a vigorous training program at age fourty-six. It included kickboxing, running and stationary biking. Her family watched her turn into "a more positive person, full of energy,” she said. Imelda went from a size 16 to a size 12. The family’s diet changed. “It’s very hard for our community to let go of the foods that are unhealthy,” Imelda said. Because of what she has learned at the YMCA, however, her family has welcomed the changes.

Imelda considers herself a shy person, but Evelyn encouraged her to become a certified spinning instructor. Imelda now teaches her students about proper

technique and nutrition. With newfound confidence, she has big ideas about campaigning for her Y. The branch is a single story, but she hopes to help it expand into a two-story building.

The Weingart East Los Angeles YMCA’s membership reflects its largely Hispanic neighborhood. Imelda frequently refers to the Y as her extended family, a place where she can serve her community. “I owe it all to the Y…it changed my life physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally,” she said. “That is why any way that I can help, I will do it.”

No circus under Burbank City Hall Annex's big top -- just some pests

Los Angeles Times  Wednesday November 13, 2002Burbank Leader  Metro DeskLaura Sturza

BURBANK-- Clowns, high-wire artists and lion tamers did not take up residence in the City Hall Annex or Olive Recreation Center the weekend of Nov. 9.

Instead, the tents were raised to fumigate the structures, a process performed in city buildings when a pest problem can't be exterminated with spraying, said Bob Van Hazelen, assistant public works director.

The $25,000 cost for fumigating both facilities -- which had termites and other pests -- is not a frequent expense, Van Hazelen said. Since 1988, only one other building has needed the procedure -- the Olive Recreation Center, for fleas.