The not-so-secret life of a stripper
Dylan dances around the main stage pole before the Odd Ball Cabaret opens in North Hills Calif., on Oct. 20, 2019. Photos by Maja Losinska
Behind the deep burgundy curtain, the adult fragrance of burnt tobacco filled the dimly-lit Odd Ball Cabaret in North Hills on a quiet Thursday night. ...
I lost myself for love
In the recent film in the long Rocky series, Balboa hands down a piece of advice to his son that accurately portrays life. He states, “Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are. It will beat you...
Ghostly Encounters
Story By: Jeffrey Gonzalez
No physical evidence of ghosts exists on earth; however, ghosts have been defined as apparitions, translucent shapes, spirits or souls of a dead person or even animals. In Roman history, Pliny the Younger, an author and statesman, recorded one of the first notable ghost stories in the first century A.D.
As the years have gone by the...
The Sun, the Moon, the Stars and your Dog: Dogstrology
Illustration by: Chelsea WestmanDog astrologer Yesenia Flores smiles with her dog Zeus. Photo by: Hannah Davis
It was another Wednesday afternoon in Los Angeles, and the sun was blazing down as if it was deep in the summer.
But it’s April 29 and in the middle of a pandemic, a dog...
Mother Plucker
Photo by: Sonia Gurrola
Five blocks from MacArthur Park, on a gloomy secluded street east of downtown Los Angeles, you will find the Mother Plucker Company. Entering the concrete building there is a showroom full of feathers. Willy Zelowitz, a true artist, is the owner of this magical feather shop.
Over 40 years ago with a $40 bag of feathers, Zelowitz...
Tattoos and piercings don’t define father
Head to toe, finger tip to finger tip—there is no missing the tattoos on Edgar Acevedo.
Those tattoos often come with discrimination, stereotypes and prejudices.
Where do these stigma arise?
Jose Martinez, a security officer at the Pierce College Sheriff’s Station, said tattoos were originally used to keep track of slaves in Ancient Greece.
Certainly, things have changed. But Acevedo, 27, a native...
The Road to the Show
Story by: Robert Knox
Photos by: Kristen Aslanian
Additional reporting: Tyler McGee
Bounce back players and their struggle to go pro
The dream of making it to the big leagues, aka “the show,” has been the aspiration of many baseball players that have come through Pierce College. One of these dreamers is Nick Murphy.
Murphy, who came after graduating from Royal High School in...
Bird & Vine Loves L.A.
The first of the Santa Ana winds blew a warm fall breath into the day. A petite blonde in denim pants and a jacket, black booties and a graphic T-shirt with a heart on it enters.
Her hair, long ice blonde and wavy blows radically gold against the blue of the October, California sky.
Pausing at the doorway, she smiles.
Bird...
Walk among the stars
Singer Gwen Stefani gives a speech during her “Walk of Fame” ceremony in Hollywood on Oct. 19, 2023. Photo by Benjamin Hanson.
It was 11:30 a.m., on a recent, radiant Thursday morning on Hollywood Boulevard, as throngs of fans gathered behind metal fences to get a glimpse of their queen bee—singer Gwen Stefani—for...
Distorted Mirror
A former model tackles the challenges of an eating disorder
Julia Kinports looks in the mirror in Miami on April 12, 2021. Photo by Michael Loizzo.
Stepping into the elevator with a lump in her throat and feeling the urge to throw up, there was...