L to R: CBS camera man; holding score producer Sonny Burke; on podium, Gordon Jenkins; on right, Frank Sinatra. above podium, liner notes writer. Era: 1965.

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while now. This is a classic photo of my dad, the great Stan Cornyn, pretending to look busy in a recording studio with Frank Sinatra. Cornyn is the photogenic fellow with glasses and necktie.

Come to think of it, this is one of the few times I’ve seen him in a necktie. He must have been in trouble with his boss that day.

Bob Biniak was someone I’ve known since I was probably twelve years old. You can read in my DogTown book how we first met–it would not be appropriate to include it here. But as his wife said in her note to some of his personal friends thursday afternoon: “Bobby loves Life and lived more in his short life than many us of can ever imagine to do.” From what I knew of Bob I can attest to this not being an exaggeration or a cliché.

via WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE?: Bob “The Bullet” Biniakoriginal Z-BoyBad Ass Mother FuckerR.I.P..

It was Christmas Eve 1926, the streets aglitter with snow and lights, when the man afraid of Santa Claus stumbled into the emergency room at New York City's Bellevue Hospital. He was flushed, gasping with fear: Santa Claus, he kept telling the nurses, was just behind him, wielding a baseball bat.

via The little-told story of how the U.S. government poisoned alcohol during Prohibition. – By Deborah Blum – Slate Magazine.

I found this great photo of the intersection of Wilshire and Bundy in west LA. It was supposedly taken back in 1968.

During World War II the Army Corps of Engineers needed to hide the Lockheed Burbank Aircraft Plant to protect it from a Japanese air attack. They covered it with camouflage netting and trompe l’oeil to make it look like a rural subdivision from the air.

via Think or Thwim » How To Hide An Airplane Factory.

The hangar is visible on the right. Doesn’t seem big enough, really.

Old Spruce Goose hangar is for sale — latimes.com.

Awesomeness.

A Motorcycle With a Tank Engine – Neatorama.

I don’t know why, but for some reason this really strikes a chord with me.