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I no longer keep up this website but keep it active for
those who visit so they may enjoy looking at the years and
years of pictures I took. I miss Venice Beach sometimes and
will visit from time to time, but I am doing a much more
rewarding work now. To tell you the truth Venice Beach is
just not the same anymore. I know change is necessary but it
does not mean I hafta' like it :)
I have moved on and spend most of my time in Thailand now
working with select farms and farmers organizing them into
groups to help them bring and sell their organic fruits to
USA. It is a labor of love and the new passion in my life.
It is work I enjoy very much.
If you want to take a look and what I'm up to now; you
can go to
www.tatumorganics.com
or you can email me at
tatumventures@gmail.com
(a temporary edress for me)
I hope your life is all you want it to be.
Much Love
to all!
Sondra
The entries below are where it pretty much ended for me:
Venice
Beach Boardwalk Free Speech Funeral
Procession
Friday March 18, 2005
Family, friends, and
public mourners assembled on the Venice Beach Boardwalk @
2pm today in the rain to march in protest to the Boardwalk Lottery
click on pictures to enlarge
~~> so so sad...
MARCH 12, 2005
It was a sad weekend on the Venice Beach Boardwalk
March 12 & 13, 2005. The photos below of the long lines and
then
empty spaces on the VB Boardwalk tell the story. The Venice
Beach Boardwalk we once knew and loved is not the same
place. It is now a sad place, nothing more than a flea
market/Chinatown/craft fair/garage sale. The lottery is in
full effect and
the line is a long one for the people who wait with their
lottery dog tags (to be worn around their necks and
in plain view while working on the VB Boardwalk). Their
lottery dog tag badges will
be checked, collected, and placed in the big green spinning bin. If
their badge is drawn they will get a spot for two weeks in their measured out
numbered spaces on the VB Boardwalk to sling their wears.
Another lottery drawing will be held in two weeks. We
will no longer see the ARTISTS
we've loved and enjoyed for so many years.
They will not sell out.
The artists who conformed and did not stand united have sold
their last rights of 'Freedom of Speech' to the
Devil disguised as the lottery. See for yourself.
~ click on the pictures below to enlarge ~
1. 2. 3. 4.
(1)Standing up for freedom
(2)Rangers keeping an eye on things (3)Entering in orderly
fashion like herded sheep; showing their purchased lottery
badges of identification (4)Exiting and depositing their
lottery badges in a big green bin which someone will spin
and pick out the lottery badges to pick the winning spots until they
run out.
5. 6. 7. 8.
(5)Long line outside
Westminster Senior Center. (6)Artists opposing Lottery.
(7&8)There are fewer than 150 spots available on the Venice
Beach Boardwalk and more than 200 lottery badges sold to
date and climbing. I wonder how those who did not stand
united will feel when their badges are not drawn and they do
not get to work. How about those in line now who plan to
re-sell their bought commercial goods?
9. 10. 11. 12.
(9)More of the line
moving in. (10)Crowd gathering at the outside exit door
waiting to hear if their lottery tag number is called out
from the spinning drawing canister. This to see if they get
a spot to work for two weeks on the VB Boardwalk starting next Tuesday or
not. (11)Some of these people still waiting will not get a
spot some observers are also still standing by. (12)This
empty spot was
filled for over 20 years by
George
the Wizard of Venice who reads
palms or by
RaRa The Super Starr a world known artist.
13. 14. 15. 16
(13-16)Measured out
spots on the Boardwalk with less than original art.
17.
(17)Shortly after this picture was taken Ibraham was
surrounded by the Pacific Division PD and given a ticket for
pan-handling and receiving donations without a lottery
permit. There was heavy police presence from the morning
lottery drawing to the VB Boardwalk throughout the day.
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