That "zig-zag" shape looks more like the German SS "logo". That's how it struck me at first glance.

Zevy:

Never occurred to me. Unfortunately, now that's all I can see.

Robert - you are a rarity - a pedestrian in Los Angeles? You must not be a native there ;-) That reminds me of a funny thing a friend - a Manhattanite - said to me regarding native New Yorkers vs. imported:

He said that the natives (in Manhattan) were the ones more prone to complaining while the imports knew how much there was to see and do, never more than a few minutes subway ride.

I visited it for the first time 5 years ago - stayed in an old but clean hotel run by Catholic Nuns in Midtown ($80/night) and was amazed at the things to do there - everything from a TV museum (where you could at the push of a button see almost any TV series made) to the world-renowned plays. "A great place to visit", I thought, but I don't have enough money to live there. Well, I'm getting too far off tangent here...

By walking you see things that other more mobile people have never seen.

The service station owner obviously has a streak of artistic appreciation.

Is it hard to find such things not marred by gang graffiti? When my father had an office it was a constant battle between keeping it freshly painted and wiping off the graffiti. If you don't cover it immediately, like the last dog to hit the fire hydrant, more graffitti from rival gangs rapidly accrues unless it ic cleaned - ie, painted over.

A few days ago I was in a Catholic gift shop to get a gift for a 1 year old's baptism. I made the point that 50% of the Catholics voted for Obama and wondered aloud if any had buyer's remorse.

Zevy - David - my thought was similar on the SS logo but a quick Google search showed it to be quite different.

OK, that little boy may be a little shlumpy. But he's so cute!!!

Love these photos. A really nice little collection in this post. Thank you!

Bill:

Thanks for the comment and the anecdotes.

I know this is going to sound pretentious, but when I take photos I think about something William Faulkner once said:

The aim of every artist is to arrest motion, which is life, by artificial means and hold it fixed so that a hundred years later, when a stranger looks at it, it moves again, since it is life.

I'm not an artist. I just take pictures of stuff that draws my attention. But I consider my snapshots as time capsules. I want my grandchildren to look at them, nod, and murmur, “Oh, so that's what the world looked like.”

Kay:

Gee thanks. I'm going to speak to my father in a bit, my pre-Shabbat call, and I'm going to tell him how cute I was:-)

Glad you enjoy my, uh, Kodak moments.

I don't know LA, but I know Brooklyn. Being from the Bronx I learned Brooklyn by dating someone from just about every neighborhood in the borough.
Usually, Sheepshead Bay...and I always thought it might be easier to get from the Bronx to Albany for a date than Sheepshead Bay.
Shabbat Shalom,
Norm

Before I even saw the comments, I saw the Nazi SS in that photo too!

An addendum to today: Robert I think my very first camera was also a Kodak Brownie (wasn't everyone's?)

But when I was 12 I was rummaging though a storage closet and found my late grandfather's Ansco twin lens reflex. That thing was big and looked a bit comical carried by a 12 year old. I had it on a sterap around my neck. It looked like a Rolleiflex on steroids.

Of course there was no internal light metering system, so I had a hand held light meter. If I am not mistaken it used 120 roll film.

I had clip on ties - but my most embarrassing attire was much later, while on a visit to Hawaii. We are the same age, I think.

My father was at a company convention and used to do a lot of business in the Phillipines, in the early 50s(with another business in Los Angeles). He used to export movie equipment.

Anyway he had these frilly, white long-sleeved shirts - you could see though them and he thought he and I would look sharp at the company luau - as a 16 year old I was mortified but I was forced to wear it. It looked, well, almost as bad as the Jerry Seinfeld Pirate Shirt, if you remember that episode. Picture a Pirate Shirt, less puffy sleeves but almost see through. Maybe that was/is the style in the Philippines, but it sure wasn't in Hawaii.

You got of easy with a bow tie. The un-tucked shirt made you look like a serious photographer ;-)

nice observations as usual!

look forward to getting to know that neighbourhood very soon :)

shavua tov.

Regarding Anne Bayefsky being stripped of her U.N. babdge and evicted from the premises: I urge all of you to email Mayor Bloomberg, as I intend to do, and urge him to evoke Kelo vs. New London and at least get the U.N. off those 18 acres of prime, centrally located Manhattan real estate.

I emailed Mayor Bloomberg, urging him to evoke Kelo vs. New London and get the U.N. off those 18 acres of river view, centrally located, Manhattan real estate.

Miranda: I think making a parking lot out of those 18 acres would be of more use that what we have...

Didn't one of the Rockefellers originally donate that land?

Robert, your photographs are wonderful, as always.
Thank you so much for sharing them.

Dear Mr. Brandt: A multi-story parking garage would be an even better idea. I believe that one of the Rockefellers DID donate that land. I believe there were slaughterhouses there at the time-again, something much more useful than what's there now.

Sarah:

Mazal tov on your engagement to an LA native. Good choice. Let me know when hit our shores.

Sara:

Good to hear from you. Hope all is well with you and yours.

Robert

Thanks for posting the photographs, I'm looking at my own neighbourhood with a new eye, seeing shapes, textures, colours. Time to dust off the old Pentax ME Super??

Cheers
Earl