Anti-Gondos

Here is the statue of Myrna Loy in 1927. The buildings in the background were destroyed in the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, but the sculpture was preserved. The sculptor was Harry Winebrenner, who was a teacher, not a student, at Venice High School. Apparently he continued to tinker with the piece after it was originally installed.

This picture is from the Los Angeles Public Library photo collection. I spent a lot of time browsing their pictures of Venice.

Venice is right next to Mar Vista, but it is an entirely different sort of place. Venice has kept a bit of magic throughout its many changes in fortune. I will always return there.

I went to this school, Venice High School, in the early 60's. Unlike my elementary school, and my junior high school, Venice had a little history. We students did not know much of its history, but we did know that Myrna Loy had gone there, and that she had been a movie actress. We knew about Myrna Loy because a sculpture of her graced the rose garden in front of the school. She had posed for it in 1921, when she was 16 years old and named Myrna Williams. Myrna's figure was one of three sculpted by students, to represent "mental, physical and spiritual." She was the spiritual, the only one in a standing position, and the only one that became famous.

We students had not seen her films, and we didn't know that she had fought the House Committee on Un-American Activities a few years before. The sculpture was just one of those strange Venice High School traditions, like calling ourselves "gondoliers," and having "Rowing, Not Drifting" painted on the walls in art deco lettering.

Myrna posed in an artistically thin gown with one arm outstretched. In our innocent days, pranksters occasionally put clothes on her. Years later, she was repeatedly vandalized. Her arms were chopped off. She was often repaired. Once she was repaired with her arms in a much different position, closer to her body. Iron bars were placed around her, and she became a sorry sight.

When I visited my Alma Mater on Sunday, I was sad to see that Myrna was gone. I found an L.A. Times article that describes restoration efforts by Venice alumni.

( I found an L.A. Times article that describes restoration efforts by Venice alumni. )

Appeals to "school spirit" were something I always despised. I have more of it now than I ever did then, but I see no reason to promote it to today's students. "Rowing, Not Drifting," filled me with guilt, not inspiration. However, if I were a history teacher at Venice High School, I would want that stature as a good place to initiate a history lesson. If they would let me, that is. Venice High School cherished school spirit, not academic freedom.

so who here has come to realize that senior year isn't all they thought it would be? OR Who thinks that its turned out to be the opposite of what they wanted?

I do...

man I want to get out of here now but i'm afraid to leave all the people who are good to me behind.

hey ppl! how's life?

[Bush has done some stupid shit like the Iraq war.  But listen to this:]

Mexico Criticizes U.S. Immigration Bill for Security Focus
Measure Would OK Partial Fence on Border, Impact Worker Permits
By IOAN GRILLO, AP

MEXICO CITY (Dec. 17) - The Mexican government slammed the U.S. Congress for approving an immigration bill that would tighten border controls and make it harder for undocumented immigrants to get jobs.

The House of Representatives voted 239-182 in favor of measures that would enlist military and local law enforcement to help stop illegal entrants and require employers to verify the legal status of their workers.

The House also authorized the building of a fence along parts of the U.S.-Mexico border, but did not include any new temporary work program for migrants, something Mexico insists is needed.

"The government of Mexico ... believes that a reform which only considers security measures will not contribute to a better, more integral bilateral management of migration issues," the Foreign Relations department said in a statement.

"The U.S. executive branch publicly expressed its commitment to an integral immigration reform, with a new program for temporary workers," the statement continued. "The Mexican government will redouble its efforts to achieve this shared goal."

President Bush urged Congress almost two years ago to enact a guest worker program that would allow illegal immigrants to stay in the country temporarily to fill jobs unwanted by Americans.

House leaders wouldn't allow a vote on a volatile proposal to deny citizenship to babies born in the United States to illegal immigrants.

But the House did approve building 700 miles of fence along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border, giving priority for construction in Laredo, Texas. The city is across the border from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, where warring drug cartels have been blamed for more than 140 killings this year.

Mexico argues existing barriers built along heavily crossed sections of the border have not stopped migrants from crossing, rather have pushed them through more desolate, dangerous areas.

A record number of more than 415 people died crossing the border illegally in 2005, according to statistics from the U.S. Border Patrol for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. That compares to the previous record of 383 deaths in 2000.

Mexico's National Human Rights Commission described the U.S. measure as "part of a tendency to criminalize migration with a wall that calls to mind the Berlin Wall."

As well as building a wall, the bill would require the Defense and Homeland Security departments to design a plan to use military technology to stop illegal crossings and require all employers in the country, more than 7 million, to check the legal status of workers.

U.S. authorities estimate there are about 11 million undocumented migrants in the United States, about half of whom are Mexican.

[I like the idea that there is some control on who is residing in this nation.  I do not intend to sound like a racist.  But we are one step closer to bring some sanity to this chaotic nation.  The Mexican gov't can't control their own country and we have to do their dirty work.]

Do you want to improve the lives of people living with AIDS? Go to aidswalk.net and register with Team Doom.

For more information, come to Gay-Straight Alliance. GSA will be holding its weekly meeting this Friday at lunch in rm. 211.

Gay-Straight Alliance will be meeting tomorrow at nutrition.

YOU CAN ASK ME ONLY SIX QUESTIONS::
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
__________________________________________________
No matter how random, revealing, rude, naughty or pointless
__________________________________________________
I promise to answer them 100% truthfully
__________________________________________________
All questions are COMPLETELY confidential
__________________________________________________
[[[Repost this to see what others ask you...]]]
__________________________________________________
IF YOU DON'T, THEN YOU'RE SCARED OF WHAT PEOPLE MAY ASK YOU

I'm sure everyone at Venice High has at least one grievance about the school that they would like to change. Well, why just bitch about the cafeteria or the campus when you can get up off your ass and work with your fellow students and faculty to try to change that? Adbusters can help us achieve this goal for the year of 2005/2006 and hopefully change the bad things about our school..

http://www.adbusters.org/jammergroups/campus/
Fill out this request and where it says city type "Los Angeles" and school name "Venice Senior High School"

Note: Please fill this out only if you are serious about making changes at Venice High School, or just want to make the students and faculty aware of some things. Please only valid complaints and inquiries. Here's an example:

Stupid Complaint: County sucks, bring back Taco Bell and Coca Cola.

Valid Complaint: The school has enough money to spend on making the cafeteria look like the Costco eating plaza by adding menus and pictures of the food as well as a neon flashing sign of Gunther the Gondo. Yet our school, a FOREIGN LANGUAGE MAGNET school at that, can't afford new textbooks, at least foreign language textbooks that are missing chapters at a time and are growing mold? What is more important, our education, or unrealistic pictures of food up on the cafeteria walls?

Stupid Inquiry: Why do we have to do campus beautification as detention?

Valid Inquiry: Why do the handicap students have to collect recyclable bottles to fund their own education? Why doesn't the school help fund their education?

By signing up with Adbusters we can help ourselves get organized and ready to become a group at school and meet to change our school for the better. You don't have to be a part of a certain subculture or clique at school, or even read Adbusters. You just have to be willing to stand up for your rights as a student and your community.

check this out, free art project
for l.a. area youth interested in
stuff from graffiti art to theater.
if you can't make the meeting
saturday, still contact them
for more info!



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Please forward to any interested youth. Also, we are seeking people
who might be interested in helping out with some of the workshops on
performance, muralism, graffiti art, and other topics.
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¡Y QUE! YOUTH PERFORMANCE PROJECT


Join our free 6-week program exploring topics like:

PUPPET MAKING . GUERRILLA THEATER .
MURALISM . PROTEST ART . PERFORMANCE .
WRITING . ART AS RESISTANCE

All high school students are welcome-no theater or drama experience
needed!
During our free program, we will be collectively developing a workshop
and possible performance to be shared locally with the community.

Please come to our first Informational Meeting:
Saturd ay, Aug. 13, 3-5 p.m.
Casa del Pueblo
164 Glendale Blvd., Echo Park, CA 90026

More info: (323) 313-8562 . freedom_echoes@yahoo.com
Sponsored by: Arts 4 City Youth . 2618 Pennsylvania Ave. . Boyle
Heights, CA 90033 . (323) 881-9609 funkahuatl@azteca.net c/s

To view calendar go to http://www.angelfire.com/rebellion2/kualyque/

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also, if enough kids from one school/area show interest
some sort of transportation can be worked out for those
who need it

(x-posted)