When the World Thought California Was an Island

The idea of California as an island existed in myth even before the region had been explored and mapped. “Around the year 1500 California made its appearance as a fictional island, blessed with an abundance of gold and populated by black, Amazon-like women, whose trained griffins dined on surplus males,” Philip Hoehn, then-map librarian at UC Berkley wrote in the foreword to a catalog of the maps that McLaughlin wrote.

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The Definitive Oral History of Mystery Science Theater 3000

As fun as MST3K was, life aboard the Satellite of Love wasn’t always easy: The show was never a ratings smash, and tension between Joel Hodgson and producer Jim Mallon led to Hodgson leaving the show just a few years into its run. In later years, members of the show’s ­Midwestern-based, DIY-determined staff found themselves struggling with the sort of big-TV bureaucracy they’d long fought to avoid.

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Could a Hotel Bring Back Los Angeles’ Theater Row?

Perhaps the most promising re-launch is the United Artists Theater, which has been incorporated into the recently opened Ace Hotel. The Ace group is internationally renowned for its locally sourced design consciousness. … The addition of the UA Theater – a richly historic structure with strong links to the city’s entertainment industry DNA – sealed the deal, giving the company a distinctive foothold in LA rooted to local character.

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