Democratic Party To Honor Secret Agent Don Trump At Waldorf Astoria For "Royally Jacking Up" Republican Party

"Trump.  Don Trump"

Hailing him as the "second coming"  of James Bond, the Democratic National Party will honor secret agent Don Trump Monday evening  at a black-tie gala held in the grand ballroom of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City.

Trump, who went undercover as "Donald J Trump" and infiltrated the Republican Party so deeply they actually - believe it or not - nominated him as their candidate for the President of the United States, was said to be thrilled that the 16-month-long charade was finally over.

"He is so totally unburdened now that it's basically over and he can really go back to being his cool, caring self and not the pure butterhole he has been playing since he announced last June," said Trump's fellow agent - and friend - Sam Johnson, who himself has been undercover as Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republicn National Committee. "I'm excited it's all over, too. Do you know how difficult it is to answer to the name Reince."

The Waldorf Astoria gala, which is a sellout at $120,000 an eight-top, will be emceed by actor Robert DeNiro, who not only was a vocal opponent of "Donald J Trump", but secretly coached him on the fine points of "pretending to be someone so unlike your real self."

"Don was a fast learner, but also a good ad-libber," said DeNiro, who called the "candidate" a pig, punk and idiot, among other slurs, earlier this week on social media.   "That bit about him admiring [Russian strongman Vladimir] Putin was all his own creation. Brilliant.  This agent coulda been another Brando."

Also being honored at the event will be secret agents Ralph Waxman, who posed as a community activist,  and Pat Asanti who posed as an actor and disgruntled Jets fan. Both Waxman and Asanti posted dozen of undercover Facebook commentaries pretending to deride the Republican candidate. 

Due to financial arraignments with ABC and CNN, Don Trump will play the role of Donald J. Trump on Sunday night's debate. Watch closely for winks to him from Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president and - as shown below - a close friend of Don Trump.

Dario Cecchini Wins Guest of Year Award for Italy MMXVI, Americans File Formal Complaint

He walked into the backyard where I had a fire going, stared at the blaze, analyzing it like a grill master would and said - in his booming Tuscan voice - Perfecto!".   Dario Cecchini, arguably the most famous butcher in the world, the maestro from Panzano en Chianti, had arrived at the summer  home of Nancy Silverton in Panicale Umbria. It was time for a an unbridled carnival of beef.  

And Dario and his troops - Tommaso, Miles and Zac - and, most importantly, his storied wife Kim, had come prepared to feed Nancyville;  25 kilos of meat for 25 guests.  It doesn't taken Copernicus to figure out that's 2.2. pounds of beef a person. On top of it, a kilo of lardo, aka burro del Chianti  When it was over the festa was already being talked about as one of the great barbecues in European history, a rival to the legendary celebration Hannibal Barca hosted  2,233 years ago after destroying a Roman army five kilometers away at the Battle of Lago Trasimene .

For that single night. Dario Cecchini has been honored by Nancy and myself  as the MMXVI (2016) GOYA, Guest of the Year. Award 

Though the news sent a celebratory wave throughout much of Italy, the announcement was quickly met with controversy by some Americans . Silverton's very own sister. Gail,  and her husband, Joel, immediately filed a formal complaint with the Italian tourism board.  "How can an Italian be a guest in his own country?" asked Big Joel Gutman, who, sources say, was extremely upset he and his wife had to clean up the party for several hours. 

"Hell, Nancy and Michael would have woken to a den of iniquity if it wasn't  for us, " a sources quoted Gail as saying. "The place looked like Hannibal and his drunken army had trampled through it." 

Also, in an interview with the Perugia Times, Georgie Harris, the 10-year-old who helped Nancy set up the party expressed dismay with Dario's selection. "Shit, I was there at nine in the morning helping set up and I didn't get a goddamn vote." 

Kim had little sympathy for the complainers. "The sore losers can stuff it," she said   "Maybe with burro del Chianti."  

Still, everyone else - including town guests Phil and Monica Rosenthal (with daugthers Lily and Brianna) - agreed it was Dario's night and the night was so special - as is the man - that it merited the GOYA. 

Just go to his website and you'll quickly realize this is not a sane person. http://www.dariocecchini.com/dariocecchini/en/

The opening line is "Abandon all hope all ye who enter, For you are now in the hands of a butcher.", a rift on Dante Alighieri.

But truth be known, it was not for the meat he brought that earned Dario the GOYA.  It was for his heart.. Look below at him holding of a dear photograph of Dario and Nancy's dad Larry "Lorenzo" Silverton.  Look at that face.. That is why he won the GOYA.

It needs to be noted that for the third or fourth year in a row, the runner up spot went to Susan Swan, the African-American librarian from Oakland who is also the wife of photographer Steven Rothfeld.  She turned in yet another fine, graceful performance, but was simply unable to overcome Dario's tour de force and also lost points by association when she could not stop her husband from asking me if i was happy three times in a row when I was in a hurry to get to Pelicanos pizzeria.  

From Dante's Divine Comedy. The 1814 translation into English by the Reverend H. F. Cary is the origin for this phrase in English, although he gave it as the less commonly used 'All hope abandon ye who enter here'.

Through me you pass into the city of woe:

Through me you pass into eternal pain:

Through me among the people lost for aye.

Justice the founder of my fabric mov'd:

To rear me was the task of power divine,

Supremest wisdom, and primeval love.

Before me things create were none, save things

Eternal, and eternal I endure.

All hope abandon ye who enter here.

Such characters in colour dim I mark'd

Over a portal's lofty arch inscrib'd:

Whereat I thus: Master, these words import.

PREVIOUS GOYA WINNERS

2015 - Leon Gold

2014 - (TIE) Hourie Sahakian and Tiffany Fox

2013 - Liz "Go Go" Hong  ( for her total disregard for the glory of Rome and utter fascination with Saldi ( Sales). 

2012 - Cast of "The Wire"

2011 - .The Berrettos (aka Oliver and his buddies) 

2010 - (TIE) Duke Feldmeier and Patsi Asanti

The Hijacker At Pump #4

Three weeks back I turned into the 76 station on Vermont south of the 10, pulled up to pump #4, killed the engine, grabbed my phone and replied to a text. 

While I did, I heard some man talking to a lady refueling at the pump on the other side of mine.  He was that gas station guy eager to wipe your windows for some change. Though I didn't look up, the man sounded quite pleasant as he complemented the woman and what I assumed was her child on their good looks. 

By the time I finished texting, the lady was gone and the guy focused on me.

"Wash your windows, young man?"

I was still fresh off the inspiration of Muhammad Ali's funeral, which had so many wonderful tales of The Greatest's kindness to strangers, that I felt the "Ali in me" and didn't brush this fella off.

"Young man?" I said to the guy who looked a little like Dr. J, though not as tall. "I'm probably older than you.".

"I'm 71." 

"You look good. Where you from?" I asked.  You know - probably, maybe - that here in Los Angeles, those are the three most dangerous words in the English language.

But, the man simply said he was from a lot of places, including L.A.   "I lived here in 1971 and didn't come back for 35 years. Part the time, I was in prison."

"Oh. yeah? Where?” I asked, informing him – kind of proudly - that not even an hour ago I had sent two letters to two friends of mine in prison.

"I was at Soledad and Chino.”

All of this I have no reason to doubt. But, then he shifted gears.

"I broke out of Chino and went to LAX and I hijacked a plane to Cuba." He said it like he was describing going on a Sunday drive to Ojai. 

Oh, boy, Here we go. I got a real nut on my hands. By now, I'm at about 10 in the tank. Still, I'm enjoying the tale and so I encourage him.  

"Yeah, I got to Cuba and met up with Eldridge Cleaver and he helped me out."

"Good," I said, thinking I hadn't heard mention of the Black Panther leader for eons.  

He goes on. "Then I went to the Middle East and met Yasser Arafat. You remember him?" 

"'Course, I do." 

"I was with the PLO and,  after awhile,  I got shot. In the ass. Those Israelis don't play. But, I got away. Made it to Algeria. Then I went to Nigeria. But, the FBI finally caught up with me and brought me back and send me to Lompoc [Federal prison]. 

By then, I was screwing the gas cap back on. I gave him three dollars, shook his hand and asked his name. 

"Around here? I'm Joe Joe."

"I'll see you around." 

I drove off to West L.A. and after a few errands, went home.  An hour later, I thought about Joe Joe. What the hell? I looked up 1971 LAX hijackings 

I forgot - or probably never knew - there were so many airplane hijackings back then. About 15 for that year.  But, alas, none from LAX. This guy was a good story teller, but a better liar. 

Still, I gave it one more at bat, adding a couple more  words to the search, hoping, against the odds, for a hit.

Crack! "High fly ball into right field. She is........gone!" 

May 17, 2001 by Josh Meyer, Times Staff Writer. 

"A Los Angeles man who escaped from a California prison and hijacked a jet to Cuba more than three decades ago agreed to plead guilty Wednesday in exchange for 12 years in federal prison.

Byron Vaughn Booth, 56, signed an agreement to plead guilty today to federal charges of interference with a flight crew. He initially faced more serious charges of air piracy and kidnapping, for which he would have faced at least 20 years in prison if convicted.

Booth was deported from Nigeria earlier this year, after being arrested by local police with behind-the-scenes help from the FBI."

My gas station guy said he was 71. The story is about a guy 56. It was written 15 years ago.

Further down in the story.  

In January 1969, Booth and fellow inmate Clinton Robert Smith Jr. scaled a fence and escaped from the California Institution for Men in Chino….Both were considered model prisoners.

A day later, Booth and Smith boarded National Airlines Flight 64, bound for Miami with a stopover in New Orleans. After the DC-8 left New Orleans and headed over the Gulf of Mexico, Booth, armed with a .38-caliber handgun, and Smith, holding four sticks of dynamite, ordered the captain to fly to Cuba, authorities said.

Once there, Booth and Smith were taken into custody but were quickly released with the help of Black Panther Party leader Eldridge Cleaver, despite demands by U.S. authorities for their return.

Joe Joe, or rather Byron was telling the truth. though i guess with the year off. I went back. He wasn’t there.

I told my girlfriend this and she thought it was great story.  But, she had an interesting question. A good editor’s question. How did I know he just wasn't assuming this hijacker's identify? I was temporarily taken aback. But, why would anyone take this particular guy's identify?  I had a plan. I'd go back again and when I saw him, I'd simply say "How you doing, Byron?"

I did. The look on his face, well, it was like his eyes were reviewing his life in a handful of seconds. It was him. We talked for just a few minutes. I told him he reminded me of Dr.  J.

“Who’s that?”

“Julius Irving?  The basketball player?” He shook his head. “I guess you weren’t around when he was playing.”   

Last week, in the mail, I got a $40 check from my old friend Saji Mathai, a highly-respected copy editor at the L.A. Times.  He knows I sometimes send some money to inmates in prison - or ex-cons trying to stay straight and in need of a break - and he wanted to play a role.  He said it was my call who to give it to.

Last Monday, around 2 p.m., temp about 87, humidity about 50, I went by the gas station on Arlington. Byron Booth was there, looking clean in a bright orange T-shirt. As I walked to him, a woman handed him some change, most of which spilled onto the concrete. I bent down and helped the former skyjacker pick up about 14 pennies. He smiled and said "You tell Hollywood about me yet?" 

No. Instead, I told him about Saji and pulled out that $40. He looked at it for a long time - several seconds - before he took it.  “Tell this Saji he made my day.” We exchanged numbers and talked for a few. A few minutes later, he was walking southbound on Arlington over the 10.      

I’ve been thinking of Muhammad Ali almost as much lately as I did back in his glory days, those thrilling nights of title fights. I wish everyone in the world could see his funeral and get - or realize – the “Ali in me.”  Even if it’s only to talk a stranger at a gas station. They might not be an old airplane hijacker, but odds are they’ll have a story they’d love to tell. All you gotta do is supply the ears while you are pumping gas.

Saturday I went by the 76. Byron Booth wasn't there. But, as I debated If I should actually buy some gas, my cell light up. I had inputted him as "Hijacker".

He told me he wasn't as "the office" yet, but was on his way.  We made a quick plan to rendezvous close by, on Washington and 3rd Ave.  Two minutes later, I rolled the window down, shook his strong hand and gave him my novel. Inside I had stashed a few bucks. He appreciated. I told him I wouldn't see him for awhile as I was going out of town.

He asked if it was a road trip.  No, I said, I'll be flying.

He smiled mischievously and said "Don't get hijacked, man."

What could I say to that? I nodded with a smile and took off.

End of Part #1 of  "The Life of Byron Booth"  

Byron Booth at this office, the 76 station on arlington just north of the 10.

Court of Appeals "Tentatively" Rules In Favor Of Big Evil's Claim Of Vindictive Prosecution On Three Murder Charges

The saga of Cleamon "Big Evil" Johnson continues. 

The Court of Appeals has tentatively ruled in favor of a motion that argues Johnson is the target of vindictive prosecution, a claim that could led to three murders and an attempted murder charge being dropped against the infamous  89 Family Swans gang member.

Even if those charges are dismissed Johnson - and his co defendant Michael "Fat Rat" Allen - still face a retrial of the 1991 double murder of Payton Beroit and Donald Ray Loggins for which they spent more than 13 years on death row in San Quentin. That conviction was overturned in 2011 by the California Supreme Court which ruled that a juror, leaning toward acquittal, was wrongly removed by the judge, Charles E. Horan.

Johnson and Allen were sent back to the Los Angeles Men's Central Jail for a retrial  As they prepared to retry that case, the district attorney's office, aided by LAPD Robbery Homicide detectives, set out to find additional cases to pin on Johnson. Eventually, they filed the four additional charges.  This led Johnson's lawyers to file the claim of vindictive prosecution.  

A definitive ruling by the Court of Appeals is expected within two weeks.

When Johnson’s lead attorney, Robert Sanger, initially learned of the added charges, he was flabbergasted.

“After nearly 14 years on Death Row and the decision by the court to overturn the case, the addition of the three murder charges and one attempted murder was truly breathtaking,” Sanger said during the court of appeals hearing.

The prosecution argued to dropped the charges could lead to a dramatic change in strategy for other future capital cases.  

John Harlan of the district attorney's appellate division said that If these additional charges are not allowed to stand,  a so-called  “Kitchen sink” effect would evolve, meaning that prosecutors, fearing they would not be able to add additional charges later, would file every possible charge in the initial filing document.

Sanger countered.

“This [the added charges] would send a significant message to other people that if you attempt to appeal, you might end up with more cases. You just don’t pile on 187s (murders) and hope to get lucky on one.”  

According to a piece in the Yale Law Review,  legal "vindictiveness" does not refer to a prosecutor’s ill feeling toward, or even his desire to harm, a defendant. Rather, wrote Doug Lieb, a law clerk for the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, "As defined by the Supreme Court,vindictiveness means that a prosecutor has retaliated against a defendant for the exercise of a legal right, denying his/her due process."  

In addition to Beroit and Loggins - shot to death at a car wash in 1991 on 88th and Central  - the district attorney's office now alleges Georgia Denise "Nece" Jones, Albert Sutton and Tyrone Mosley were all killed or ordered killed by Johnson.  While Johnson was in Ironwood State Prison, Jones was shot and killed June 12, 1994 at 87th Place and Wadsworth Avenue in the 89 Family Swan neighborhood. Sutton was also killed in that neighborhood.  Mosley was shot and killed in September 15, 1991 on 97th Street and McKinley Avenue, a 97 East Coast Crips neighborhood.

Johnson, acting as his own lawyer,  was previously tried on the Mosley killing in 1998.. The result was a hung jury, well in his favor. 

If the vindictive prosecution is indeed granted, and the extra charges dropped. Johnson and Allen would be retried on the original double murder case.  However, that case was not a ":slam 'dunk" and relied much on the testimony of one Freddie "FM" Jelks, himself a gang member facing prison who was killed many years ago in an unrelated incident on the west side.. 

Sanger and co-counsel Victor Salerno were pleased as they left the courtroom. They were greeted by Johnson’s parents and his brothers.  Sanger was cautious with his optimism. Still, he admitted it was a good day in the court room, but the case was far from over.

"This might end up in the Supreme Court."

The above photo is many years old. Johnson is now 48 and that goatee is salted with grey. 

Redemption For a Nation - How Donald Trump Can Make America Great Again

Redemption. It’s right up near “imagination” on my list of favorite words. Redemption is the tale of failure followed by a triumphal comeback. My favorite movies – “On the Waterfront” and “Casablanca” – my favorite novel – “Les Miserables” – are about redemption.

The best sports stories – Muhammad Ali’s three-and-a-half year banishment for refusing to be inducted in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War and his loss to Joe Frazier, then titanic victories over George Foreman and Frazier; Sandy Koufax’s refusal to pitch on Yom Kippur in the opening game of the ‘65 World Series against the Twins then winning Game Seven with a three-hit shutout – are filled with redemption.

Redemption is usually and most famously served individually.

There have been incidents of mass redemption, but never before has the United States as a whole had such a royal chance to achieve redemption as it does this election year.

And your boy, Don Trump, is the man who can give the United States redemption and - in his words - "make America great again."  I don’t get Democrats, my fellow Dems, who go on Facebook and rant against Trump. They don’t realize he’s the best thing to happen to the Democratic Party since Watergate. He's accomplished something Democrats have only fantasized about; royally jacking up the Republican party.  Yet,  for my Democrats, the prospect of a Donald presidency is pretty much the end of civilization. For me, Don Trump is the person who can restore America to greatness.

All America adults have to do is vote him in as president. Do that, and America will – after a shaky start - be “great again”.

I’ll spill on how this works, but bear with me for a few graphs.

Donald Trump, as it stands right now, is a force in American politics. Whether you like him or hate him, whether you think he's the savior to rise from these streets you've been waiting for or Attila the Hun on his wedding night, he is a force. There is clearly a large portion of the country that want him as their leader. And even if he loses in the general, he will be - and remain  - a force.

But, if he is elected to become president, he won’t be a force for long. Why? Here’s why and here is where redemption comes into this play.

Vote for Trump. Elect Donald Trump president and then, as every petrified liberal Dem believes, he messes up. I mean he fucks up in a grand way that makes that debacle at Nakatomi Plaza seem like a smooth day at the office. And then, he is impeached.

That simple. Elect. Impeach. Redemption.

Yes, we will have to weather some rough - and I’m sure embarrassing, maybe even scary  - months. Hopefully not as frightening as some fear. Boy won't be walking around alone with a nuclear briefcase. Maybe he'll fire someone about to investigate him. Still, waiting for his downfall, that will be the difficult segment where you get the opportunity for redemption. That is imperative for redemption. You cannot have redemption if you go sailing along in smooth seas.   . 

But, Don leads the country on a path so wacky, that Republicans and Democrats actually come together as - like that Pledge says - one nation, indivisible  and unite on something. Throwing him out.

We admit to the world, “Okay, we went a bit daffy. Not a bit daffy, Straight out. We overdid our utter disgust with bullshit politics, our loathing of politicians, made some adjustments, returned to our senses, got up off the canvas and are fighting back.”  Can collectively say - as Ali famously said to George Foreman in the 5th round after taking a pounding in Kinshasa  - “Now, it’s my turn.” Three rounds later, it was over. Ali had his glorious redemption.

And now it could be America’s turn. Elect Trump and you’ll see.  He will screw up. He can’t help it. Fool's running around with blinders that make it seem like Seabiscuit had on wide-angle night vision googles.  

Look. We put up with George Bush and Dick Cheney with their tragic catastrophe, the war in Iraq.  That seems to be forgotten and okay with everybody. Clinton got some oral and there was impeachment hearings.  Cheney and Bush start a war of untold casualties, no impeachment chatter.  Why? I have no idea. But, that was the supercharging of our decline and can – if we elect Don – lead us to an actual knockdown which is imperative to the Redemption of America tale. And our return to greatness.

And greatness, -beloved greatness -  cannot be accomplished without failure.  

It’s called “weathering a storm”. It’s like you go on vacation. You come back and the first – and best – story you tell is the most disastrous part of the trip. My gal and I went to Southern Italy a few weeks  back and, in search of a David Rosoff-recommended two-star restaurant, I turned down the wrong street – or“strada”  - in a little town south of Naples. This street gets narrower and narrower. To the point I pull in the mirrors. And it gets even narrow. “Is this a street or a funnel?” I ask Nancy. She gets out and actually puts my Michelin map of Italia Sud against the car’s right door to act as the world’s worst buffer from a wall scrape. We’re stuck. Backup attempts are futile. Finally, a local man of 70-something shows up and helps us back out. First story of the trip? Not the pizza at Pepe in Grani. Not the foot-stomping drive along the Amalfi. The funnel street.

Don Trump can be our own national funnel street.  Leading us down a path that gets narrower and narrower, darker and darker until we all team up and get back on the right strada.

don trump with the greatest

*For the record, on his wedding night, legend has it the normally stone-cold sober Atilla the Hun got drunk and died.

Fugitive Dominique Crenn Named "Best Female Chef in the World"; FBI Names Elizabeth Falkner As "Person of Interest"

In a move that infuriated law enforcement agencies around the globe, the World's 50 Best Restaurants organization has named fugitive San Francisco chef Dominique Crenn the "best female chef in the world", setting off both raucous celebrations and angry protests in her native France and adoptive California.

Crenn, who has been on the run since 2014 after a well-publicized felonious incident in Los Angeles, has managed to elude authorities despite making occasional public - albeit unannounced - appearances. More alarmingly, she has somehow been able to orchestrate Atelier Crenn, her two-star  Michelin restaurant in San Francisco while on the lam 

Meanwhile. the FBI today named chef Elizabeth Falkner as a "person of interest" in the case of the hunt for Crenn. A law enforcement source, speaking on the condition of anonymity,  said the FBI thinks Falkner, known for her unique ability to crash at various pads throughout Europe and America, could be aiding and abetting Crenn's unlawful flight. 

When asked point blank about the "Crenn / Falkner" connection at a news conference in Los Angeles, the FBI was vague.

"Let's just say Crenn is getting help from someone," said FBI special agent Efram Zimbalist, III, special agent-in-charge of the Los Angeles field office. "She can't be out there all alone. We know she's popular woman, almost like a beloved outlaw in that wacky chef community. So she has many friends. We also know for a fact that Crenn was recently seen in public with Falkner.  So, Elizabeth Falkner, if you read this, you need to contact us immediately." 

Photographs of Crenn and Falkner partying in Los Angeles in mid-April at various sites went virile on the world wide web when they were posted The two were seen in Century City, Paramount Studios and Connie and Ted's restaurant in West Hollywood. 

Connie and Ted's owner Michael Cimarusti said he had no knowledge that either Crenn or Falkner had been to his restaurant. Mysteriously, when the FBI asked to see security tapes, Connie and Ted's manager, Murray Rubinstein, told agents the cameras were turned off that day in honor of the birthday of Philadelphia Flyer hockey great Bobby Clarke.

"That didn't make any goddamn sense to me," said FBI agent Zimbalist III. "What would Clarke's birthday have to do with security cameras being on or off? To make matters really fishy is that Clarke was born on a August 13th."    

Rumors flew that Crenn was not only with Falkner. but fellow chefs Brooke Williamson, Antonia Lofaso,  Johanne "Fetunta" Killeen and a woman known only as "Miss Florida".

Reports surfaced at press time that even the legendary Nancy Silverton was with the outlaw and the crasher.  When this reporter went to Silverton's house Sunday in the Windsor Square sector of Los Angeles she denied having seen them, but only seemed to deepen the mystery.

"I havent seen either of them," said Silverton. "But i just got home and, for all i know, if she's with Falkner,  well, they could both be upstairs sleeping in the guest bedrooms."

Crenn is nominated for a James Beard Award for Best Chef in the West. The ceremony is Monday May 2,  Will Crenn be there?   

Authorities are not taking any chance. Security around the Lyric Opera House where the awards will be held is said to be the highest in Chicago since the 1968 Democratic Presidential Convention.  

#####

Previous winners of the Best Female chef include Helene Darroze, Helena Rizzo, Nadia Santini and Elena Arzak

To see the original article about Crenn's felony assault of fellow 2-star Michelin chef Josiah Citrin, check this link.

http://www.krikorianwrites.com/blog/2014/3/23/chef-dominique-crenn-wanted-by-police-flees-to-france

For more on Falkner's dubious past, check this.

http://www.krikorianwrites.com/blog/2014/8/1/chef-elizabeth-falkner

Searching For The Artist Known As "T. Denver"

On two recent morning walks to Mozza to pick up a car left overnight, Nancy and I passed a closed antique store which prominently displayed a colorful, modern oil painting of a table laden with glasses, papers, and wine bottles. Our kind of table.  Nancy was smitten. 

Tuesday afternoon, I went there alone and - after unsuccessfully attempting to Armenian the owner down - bought the painting. I took it home, put it on the living room floor, propped up against a chair. Even set there, it looked good. (Check below) 

Nancy came home early and was thrilled to see it. She has an eclectic collection of modern art, but nothing, in my artful opinion, to compare. She tried to see who signed this fine work. I got out the flashlight and the magnifying glass. The best she could do was "T. Dznv" followed by a scribble.  Nothing on the web. I took a turning with the magnifying glass. Maybe that "Z" was an "E", I told her. 

"Could it be T. Denver?", she asked.

Yeah, it could. It was. We looked more on the net and found an identical signature on a painting.  But, not much more. He - or she -  was ( hopefully still is )  a 20th century European, had a painting sold at a 2004 Christie's auction and has a painting hanging at one of the Oxford University hospitals in England.. I emailed them, but got an out of office 'til April 19th reply. A webster said T. Denver might be a name for Itzchak Tarkay, an artist born in Serbia.  Another theory was that "T. Denver" was a joint effort by several painters designed to mean "starving artist".  

So a public plea. Anyone know anything about this "T Denver"?  Best answer gets four pizzas from Mozza.  T. Denver Pizza Contest expires May 5.  Ideally, the actual T. Denver checks in.

.

Christine Larroucau, Pizzeria Mozza Manager, Becomes Youngest Person Ever Awarded Three Michelin Stars

On what just happens to be her 26th birthday, Christine Larroucau made restaurant history Thursday when the fabled Michelin Guide awarded her their treasured ”Three Star” rating making her the youngest person ever to be so honored in the revered guides 90-year existence..

The Michelin Guide, which only nine years ago began awarding stars to so-called “front of the house” restaurant owners and managers, said in a press release that Larroucau was honored because “she possess that rare quality of having a commanding presence on the floor, an incredible smile, a vast knowledge of food and wine and the ability to function smoothly with a blood alcohol level twice the legal limit.”

The previous record for youngest person to win the coveted three stars was Massimillano (Max) Alajmo, chef at Le Calandre in Sarmeola di Rubano near Padua, ItalyMax was 28 when he was so honored on Nov. 27, 2002 and continues to have the three stars.

Former co-workers of Larroucau, a former track star at USC,  were thrilled with the news and said it was a testament to her resolve to thrive.

“Under the tutelage of David Rosoff, Christine climbed the ladder from simple floor manager to GM of pizzeria and along the way she survived beating after beating,” said ex-Osteria Mozza server Pat Asanti, now a televisions star. “But, Rosoff could not knock her out. And now this. Congratulations, Christine.”

When news broke of the, honor  Larroucau was near the La Brea Tar Pits changing four flat tires on her SUV, three of which were being investigated as “of a suspicious origin,” according to auto theft detective Sal LaBarbera of the LAPD. “I heard she got some award that maybe someone else didn’t think she shoulda got,” said LaBarbera, a former homicide detective. “We are looking hard at a few individuals in that world. That restaurant world is bizarre. I miss the gang killings.”   

Across the nation in the heavily Chlean, French and Puerto Rican neighborhood of Coral Gables in Miami, Larroucau's parents, Marissa and Kiko, threw a lavish block party to celebrate heir daughter's prestigious honor. An estimated 250,000 people showed up including Michelle Bacehelet, the president of Chile, and Alejandro Garcia Padilla, governor of Puerto Rico who both flew in on a moment's notice for the festive occasion.

"Marissa and I are very proud of Christine and her award," Kiko Larroucau told the crowd.  "I only have one problem. Why the hell wasn't my daughter given four stars?"  

Back in Los Angeles, co-workers at Pizzeria as well as Osteria Mozza, Chi Spacca and Mozza2Go, the group that comprises “The Corner” at Highland and Melrose, celebrated Larroucau’s accomplishment with chocolate cupcakes and an off-key rendition of "Happy Birthday" led by chef/owner Nancy Silverton.

In her honor, they plan to hold a contest tonight in which anyone – employee or customer - who can properly pronounced her last name will get a free pizza.

Gang Member Gunned Down Monday Night at West Adams Blvd. and Halldale Ave.

 (NOTE- Because I am out of town, the details of the following shooting are very limited)

A 30-year-old black street gang member was assassinated Monday evening while he was standing near West Adams Boulevard and Halldale Avenue.

The word "assassination", not normally used for most gang-related killings, seems appropriate here as the attackers who approached in a gray or white pickup at 6:48 p.m., , were wearing some type of masks, indicating a planned hit. The victim, whose gang affiliation was not immediately known, was shot in the heart. He was pronounced dead at the scene moments later.

The killing was at least the 9th of year in LAPD's Southwest Division. Only the notorious 77th has more.