In 1954, Maila Nurmi shocked the world as sexy horror host Vampira on KABC. She rocketed to national, then worldwide stardom, then quickly faded ... although her character was a clear blueprint, much later, for Cassandra Peterson's "Elvira" character on TV and in the movies. Nurmi died in 2008.

In 2010 Off-Ramp contributor R.H. Greene, who became friends with Nurmi in her later years, told her story for Off-Ramp in a documentary called "Vampira and Me." (The radio doc became a film in 2012.)

Support for this podcast comes from Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live; and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

"I would run my sticky fingers across images that seemed to be beamed from some magical, alternative universe where people gave dinner parties and owned patio furniture." -- David Dean Bottrell's "Crafty Little Christmas" 

Every year, I'd put my name next to twenty toys in the JC Penny and Sears Christmas catalogs, and guess what ... every year I wouldn't get everything I wanted. And every years I was sorely disappointed. Big surprise. It took a long time before I woke up,  changed my ways, and discovered a lot more happiness on Christmas. 

The Christmas catalog played a slightly different role for actor/writer/teacher/Kentuckian/homosexual David Dean Bottrell, and this week, we're setting the proper mood for the season -- don't be greedy! -- by listening to his story "A Crafty Little Christmas," which he performed for "Once Upon a Christmas" in 2012. (We first broadcast it on Off-Ramp in 2013.)

Support for this podcast comes from Gordon and Dona Crawford, who believe that quality journalism makes Los Angeles a better place to live; and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Off-Ramp theme music by Fesliyan Studios.

Mapping Eden; At Eden's Edge; Sound of Los Angeles; Hank Rosenfeld Can't Skate Backwards; The Man Who Made Plants Sexy; Compost It; May the Force be With You; To Seed or Not to Seed; Inner-City Academic Athletes; Smells like Smog; Reporter's Roundtable

The Observatory Revisited; Like a Phoenix; The Dark Patron of Griffith Park; Reporting in Flames; Theatricum Botanicum; Passing the Torch; Pomona's Cinema Paradiso; Billy Pew; Letters

Going BioDiesel; BioDiesel My Ride; Trolling for Oil; Vegging Out; Spiny Forest; Slide Show'n'Tell; Longing for Llano; Hungary for Sausage; Double Jeopardy; Fast Food Dude-Revisited; Theater LAndscape; Reporter's Roundtable

Off-Ramp to the I.E. Special thanks to cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz for plugging our little show in his nationally distributed comic strip, La Cucaracha (click "enlarge" to see.) This week, Off-Ramp explores the Inland Empire. The nation's fastest growing community is home to one of the world's oldest orange trees, Chick-fil-A and more. Next week, Off-Ramp will be broadcasting live from LA Times Festival of Books. We'll be at Dickson Court North, Zone F, booth 601. Come vist, we'd love to meet you. -John (and Queena)

Steve Lopez; Susan Straight; Russ Parsons; Chris Abani; Roving Reporter: Henry Winkler; Roving Reporters: Authors@Google; Roving Reporter: Spirituality Book Stand

Note from Off-Ramp This week, we take you to the world's biggest train store in Culver City, which is closing soon... another casualty of the Internet. Looking forward, on April 28th we'll be doing a live show from the LA Times Festival of Books. We'll talk with columnist Steve Lopez, chef Nancy Silverton, novelist S.E. Hinton and others. In the meantime, go visit the train store (info below). There might never be anything like it again. -John and Queena

Hot Ramen; I Eat Ramen, Here Me Roar!; The Tristan Project; Don't Be Koi; Sherlock Rock; Shopping in the Rain; The Good and the Ugly; Skinny Model Ban; Remembering Bob Clark; Reporter's Roundtable

City Hall Tower; Lucille Ball Remembered; El Pollo Chino; Star Power; Downtown LA Rising; Comic Book Legend Len Wein; These Streets Aren't Paved With Gold; Final Four