Feedback: Disneyland, LACMA and more

Flip side of L.A.’s picture postcard

I always laugh when people think L.A. is beautiful blonds in bikinis, palm trees and sunsets [“Ah, L.A. — the Paradise, the Problems,� July 12] ... they actually believe what they see in the movies! L.A. is a hardscrabble place. A place of great disparity and great variety. It is ever evolving and hasn’t really ever been defined dead-on accurately. Good article.

And I don’t agree that the homeless population is growing; I believe that they’re being displaced, being pushed out of the shadows of skid row and into high-visibility freeway underpass and sidewalk encampments.

Let’s continue the discussion.

Mark Edelstein

Sylmar

‘Vacation’ got Hughes going

Regarding “Walley World, We Meet Again� [July 12], mention should be made of the original story, “Vacation 58� by John Hughes, a short story run in the National Lampoon magazine that brought Hughes out of the world of advertising and into the world of comedy entertainment. One short story and the world is a better place.

John Oltmann

San Diego

Caillebotte was at LACMA too

I didn’t see mention of the Gustave Caillebotte exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1995 [“Making an Impressionist,� July 12]. My husband bought many catalogs after visiting exhibits, and I was sure I remembered Caillebotte. He died several years ago, but I still have the catalogs and remember being impressed by his work. The exhibit was also in Chicago that year.

Betty Keel

Hawthorne

Traveling solo has its rewards

Been a solo traveler for decades, even when my husband was alive [“A Single Rider Does Disneyland,� July 5]. (He preferred staying home with the Wall Street Journal to traveling, which he’d done years earlier.) So I travel alone, with guide books, novels and enough attitude to ignore the maitre d’s who suggest I take the table near the kitchen traffic.

I’ve loved Airstreaming, taking Viking Cruises and Road Scholar trips. Haven’t been to Disneyland, which I loved, in years, but your article has inspired me. Here’s to many more travels for all of us.

Carol A Cunningham

Tehachapi

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My name is Bobbie and I am a single rider — there, I’ve said it! Todd Martens nailed it with vivid descriptions of the joys and awkwardness of the single rider at Disneyland. Your article has given me the strength to continue to “play hooky� solo at Walt’s place. Being there washes away the heavy dust of reality with a little pixie dust.

Have a Goofy day!

Bobbie Hill

San Diego

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Like most modern “aficionados,� what you consider to be your connection to the park misses the substance and ideals Walt Disney espoused. He didn’t want to create an empty space for you to retreat into your head. Disneyland was to serve as the background canvas to facilitate all members of a family to enjoy each other’s company and to paint new memories of each other together.

Can you go to Disneyland by yourself? Of course you can. But don’t do Disneyland the injustice of warping its raison d’être in order to ease your social anxieties about having friends or not being able to enjoy the “Pirate ride� with others.

Try it with an inexperienced visitor ... and you may find that your old eyes see the ride from an entirely new perspective.

Keith Hively

Garden Grove

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I might add a few other perks to going it alone in the crowd. You can appreciate the varied “soundtrack� music, which ranges from classic Disney scores to Bernard Herrmann and other surprising choices. Ditto for the super landscaping throughout the park, from the fanciful Mr. Toad and Haunted Mansion gardens to a fairly authentic evocation of an Alpine meadow always in bloom around the Matterhorn.

And there’s no single supplement. Yet.

Ross Care

Ventura