Brentwood|News|
Robot Voice Declares This Condo for Sale Is the One for You
We couldn't tear ourselves away from this YouTube video.
<strong>Basics:</strong>
dennis.wilen@patch.com
310-562-6697
Follow @BrentwoodPatch on Twitter and "like" our page on Facebook.
Hometown: Ardmore, Pennsylvania
<strong>Long story short:</strong>
I started in news at the high school FM station and used my FM credentials to talk my way into a JFK Presidential press conference in D.C. The White House sent an angry letter to my high school, my principal yelled at me, and I parlayed it into a newspaper interview and an appearance on a late night AM talk radio show.
A newsman was born.
Then: High school newspaper, college radio station (I interned under Andrea Mitchell, now NBC uber-correspondent but quit because she was so obnoxious), college daily newspaper (I was managing editor) and wrote for the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News and Rolling Stone. I squeezed in one piece for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, of blessed memory, after I moved to LA.
I came here for the record business and I worked as promotion man for artists as varied as WAR, Tanya Tucker, Rick Dees and Heart during the late 1970s and early 80s, which some refer to as the satin jacket, limousine and cocaine era.
I got out in time to save my life and went 180° in the opposite direction -- I became a bank loan officer. The initial attraction: paychecks didn't bounce.
By the third bank, Bel Air Savings in Brentwood, which became Topa Savings in Century City, I was a Vice President, Major Loans. I specialized in loans over $1 million.
Then came the Internet. First I was on AOL, where I co-moderated the real estate forum. Then the original PowerBook and a 14.4 modem got me online at home, via Netcom.
When Topa closed our division (property value slides meant calls for more and more investor capital -- sound familiar?) in 1995, I was ready to get into this new electronic medium and got the chance when an old record company bud asked me to build a site for KCRW/Simpsons/Spinal Tap's Harry Shearer. I was off to the races.
When I got to JewishJournal.com I got to refresh my journalism cred as Web Editor, and I'm happy to be here, running my own show, at the Brentwood Patch.
<strong>My Beliefs:</strong>
Politics
How would you describe your political beliefs?
I'm a life-long, registered Democrat, although not a follower of the party line. I'm a libertarian on guns and abortion and cannabis and gay marriage, a Keynsian in economics, a progressive on social policy, a serial entrepreneur and a strong advocate of the separation of church and state. I marched with MLK in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963 and I was an anti-war hippie in college (Penn) where I led demonstrations.
And yet, I was money-lending high-rolling bank vice president too. Sui generis politics, I guess.
Religion
How religious would you say you are? Casual, observant, devout, non-religious?
I grew up in a Conservative Jewish home, went to a Jewish summer camp and worked for a Jewish newspaper. That said, my views are, uhm, unorthodox.
Local Hot Button Issues
What do you think are the most important issues facing the community?
The continuing struggle that defines Brentwood is the ever-expanding clash of country and city living: speeding drivers vs. cyclists, development vs. natural preservation, horses vs. cars, wine and beer vs. the Country Mart.
Luckily, people go to court here, which is not a bug in the system, but a feature.
The alternative is six-shooters at dawn, and we no longer live in Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica.
We are fortunate to call Brentwood home. I'm here to help everyone make it even better.
Let's get to work!
We couldn't tear ourselves away from this YouTube video.
Some of the week's images tell some of the story.
The Palisades' City Councilman, often front and center on City Council TV, now has his own channel on the online hub of uploaded video.
The City Councilman has big plans for YouTube.
Councilman Rosendahl wants you to come on downtown to talk about the future of the bike in Los Angeles.
Lovely Super Bowl weather brought out lots of smiles at the Brentwood Village Farmer's Market.
The Katsuya review and the Sunset bridge image-from-the-future story are also popular.
Councilmember Bill Rosendahl's shortened route wasn't approved by the city council, but it will be studied.
If it's the first Tuesday evening of the month, it must be the Brentwood Community Council meeting at the Kaufman Branch Library. This week's meeting featured pupils from St. Martin of Tours.
The Pennsylvania native and Brentwood resident ('I live on San Vicente!') introduced herself to the Brentwood Community Council Tuesday night.
A slow week for crime and criminals means a good week for the law-abiding citizens of Brentwood 90049.
Tuesday's Brentwood Community Council meeting will hear from City Councilwoman Jan Perry and Miss Pacific Palisades.
Touri Bolourchi was a loving wife, mother and grandmother who left Iran to build a better life for her family in America. Her daughter built her a memorial in Brentwood.
There's a plaque in her memory on the median of San Vicente Boulevard at Gorham, but few seem to notice.
Although the LAPD hoax flap really caught our attention, the TJ's excavation, the Kenter Canyon kids concert and Rosendahl's response to the MTA BRT EIR were all notable events.
Once again additional proof that you can't believe everything you read.
The Los Angeles Police Department has retracted an emailed alert—supposedly from Homeland Security—warning of terrorists posed as UPS drivers.
The Los Angeles Police Department has retracted an emailed alert—supposedly from Homeland Security—warning of terrorists posed as UPS drivers.
The Los Angeles Police Department has retracted an emailed alert—supposedly from Homeland Security—warning of terrorists posed as UPS drivers.