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Off-Ramp
Hosted by John Rabe

Exploring Southern California with John Rabe

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Episodes
  • In the workshop of Beth Goodnight, a self-proclaimed "mad scientist" of set building
    Two cool new podcasts: Missing Richard Simmons and The Competition
    Granted, the homeless make it hard to run a business near downtown LA’s Skid Row. But one man’s solution is raising eyebrows: spraying water on the sidewalk overnight. ... One of the local pianists in The Van Cliburn International Piano Competition is already famous as the Video Game Pianist on YouTube. ... Richard Simmons has gone from being the most accessible celebrity in LA to gone. A new podcast “Missing Richard Simmons" asks what happened. ... And we visit Beth Goodnight -- self-proclaimed "mad scientist" of set building -- to see the last of her Oscar sets before they’re sent off for this weekend’s show.
  • Portrait of a Rabe as a sleepy man
    Art, donuts, Cheech, La Santa Cecilia, and a cool new bar.
    Director Ava DuVernay on her new documentary about the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which banned slavery ... Backstage with La Santa Cecilia, a Grammy-winning L.A. band that tells modern stories with traditional music ... Frank Romero — interviewed by Cheech Marin — finally has his first major museum retrospective ... Another date that "lives in infamy:” when FDR ordered the imprisonment of 120-thousand Japanese-Americans 75 years ago this weekend ... Girl at the White Horse, a brand new cocktail bar at Sunset and Western, owned by the son of the Shah of Iran’s social secretary.
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  • Two fighters take part in a Dog Brothers event.
    Wham! Ouch! Stickfighting on Off-Ramp - 4-9-2011
    Chicano Batman ... CyberFrequencies ... ghosts of the past as Peruvians vote in LA ... downtown LA's power list ... downtown LA treasure: San Antonio Winery ... a stickfighting dojo ... Pato's response to the Friday haters ...
  • "High Wall," a 1947 film noir with Robert Taylor as an amnesiac World War Two vet. One of the selections in the 13th Annual Festival of Film Noir starting Friday at the American Cinematheque's Egyptian Theatre.
    A gun, a dame, and an innocent man. It's Off-Ramp - 4-2-11
    Noir film festival returns to The Egyptian ... The Angles on the Angels and the Dish on the Dodgers ... Peru Elections ... EatLA ... Dinner Party Download ... Play with Fire and Submit a Story for Burn This! ... Sam Slovick's gay teenage life, and new Slake short story: "Tommy Crow"
  • John Albert in Claremont, on the last non-suburban stretch of Baseline Boulevard. This is where he first heard Van Halen's "Eruption," and it would change his life. He writes about it in the new edition of Slake, LA's literary quarterly.
    Van Halen Memories - Off-Ramp 3-26-11
    Slake's John Albert remembers when Van Halen was groundbreaking and good ... Riding the Blue Line ... Poison or Pleasant - what is the plant in Kevin's backyard ... Bike Advocate ... Seth MacFarlane ticket winners singing with spoons ... Simon Cowell previews The X Factor ...
  • Southern California earthquake damage, 1971.
    Are YOU ready for the Big One? Off-Ramp 3-19-2011
    Disaster preparedness in SoCal ... Dinner Party Download ... Apollo, the Getty Villa's handsome but dangerous god ... Poppies return ... Running the LA Marathon ... Owsley Stanley remembered ... Seth MacFarlane SINGS ... Lomita's "Black Widow"
  • Maila Nurmi in the RH Greene documentary Schlock!
    "Vampira and Me" -- A special documentary from RH Greene - Off-Ramp 3-12-11
    Filmmaker and author R.H. Greene presents "Vampira and Me," a special documentary for Off-Ramp that tells the story of Maila Nurmi, creator of the cultural icon Vampira.
  • Hard Times and Columbo: Off-Ramp, Fundraising Edition - 3-5-2011
    This week: Columbo co-creator William Link, hard times for Marshelle Mills, underemployed mother of three and more!
  • Julian Bermudez and husband John Rabe -- in safety glasses -- drinking beer at the "This Old House" wrap party in Silverlake. This week on Off-Ramp, the show's experts give you their top renovation tips, and tell you what they learned working in LA.
    Why the Blue Line Kills - Off-Ramp 2-26-2011
    LA's Blue Line the most dangerous rail line in the US ... EatLA on the best sausage in LA ... the lonely wolverine ... home renovation advice from Kevin, Norm, and Richard of This Old House ... Dinner Party Download ...
  • The Harlem "Rens," world champions of 1939.
    Kareem's new movie -- Off-Ramp 2-19-2011
    Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's doc on 1930's all-black basketball champions ... See Richard Run - but for/from what? ... CyberFrequencies on The Social Network ... Death warmed over is good ... butterflies in your backyard and flowers at Customs ... Meet Mr. Lincoln ...
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