NYT/Reuters: Singer Joan Baez Takes Up Residence in L.A. Tree

[DeepModem Mom]

Singer Joan Baez Takes Up Residence in L.A. Tree
By REUTERS
Published: May 24, 2006


(Lawrence K. Ho / LAT)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Folk singer Joan Baez and a woman who once spent two years perched atop a giant California redwood took up residence on Wednesday in a tree in a Los Angeles community garden that is threatened with demolition.

Baez, who gave voice to Vietnam War protesters, and Julia ''Butterfly'' Hill, whose anti-logging protest in the late 1990s drew widespread attention, said they would occupy the tree in shifts.

The 14-acre (5.7-hectare) garden in the middle of gritty south Los Angeles is tended by some 350 farmers, many of them immigrants, who have been growing fruits and vegetables there since 1992.

The farmers are threatened with eviction after the Trust for Public Land failed in its efforts to buy the site from the owner, who plans to build a warehouse there.

A small group has gathered on the site in a bid to prevent the garden from being wiped out....

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment-baez.html

[kurth]

1. Just don't fall out!

[Vidar]

2. Life imitating Lisa of "The Simpsons". We're through the looking glass.

[thecrow]

3. There's an album in here somewhere...!! nt

[ronnykmarshall]

4. One of the most beautiful voices.

I love Joan Baez.

[gratuitous]

5. A grandmother in her 60s

If I was the owner, I'd give up now. You don't stand a chance.

I've seen Baez in concert twice. A remarkable talent.

[Southsideirish]

24. I admire her very much and have for many years. Still holding true to her

principles over time.

[Vinnie From Indy]

6. Give 'em hell Joan!

If the issue is the difference between the owners asking price and the price offered by the land trust, both the owner and Joan should try and work out a free concert to fill the gap. That is of course if the owner is being reasonable in his asking price.

[shadowknows69]

7. Go Joan

Taken September 24th 2005. The Shadow knows how to get backstage. Ok in the press tent anyway.

[Hekate]

8. Good for Joan and Julia

:grouphug: to them

Hekate

[groovedaddy]

9. Julia due in Kentucky in early June

I hope they have their "shifts" worked out. I'm looking forward to seeing "butterfly!"

[lapfog_1]

10. All you need is Joni Mitchell... n/t

[dysfunctional press]

11. hey- if it's somebody's private land...

shouldn't they be allowed to develop it as they see fit, within the letter of the applicable zoning laws? what right do baez & hill have any right to trespass and do this?

[AnOhioan]

14. I would have a nasty comment...

ButI save those for the RW.

[dysfunctional press]

18. why a nasty comment...?

tell me where i'm wrong..?

[AnOhioan]

20. Update on story

"The land originally was owned by developer Ralph Horowitz but the city seized it in the 1980s, forcing him to sell it in order to build a trash-to-energy incinerator. When the project fizzled, the land was turned over to a food bank and people began gardening there after the 1992 Los Angeles riot.

Horowitz sued to get the site back and the city settled in 2003 by selling it to him for $5 million, leading to court battles. Eventually, he agreed to sell 10 of the 14 acres to The Trust for Public Land for $16.35 million but the group fell $10 million short and the option expired Monday."

I am sorry but Mr Horowitz is being totally unrealistic. He re-bought the property 3 years ago for $5 million. Now he wants $16.35 million???? An appreciation of over $11 million in three years?
I call bullshit when I see it.

This guy is completely lacking in ethics. He should sell for between $5 and $6 million and let the people in the inner city who use this land to supplement their food supply continue to do so. It is called doing the right thing.


http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/25/urban.garden.protest.ap/index.html

[DeepModem Mom]

21. Thanks for this update, Ohioan.

[dysfunctional press]

23. the dollar amount of the profit has nothing to do with it-

the price of real estate is set by what the local market will bear, NOT on how much somebody paid for it in the first place- the bottom line is that if he owns the land, he's free to set whatever price he wants...and btw- the trust AGREED to the $16.35million price tag- but then fell $10million short- that's a pretty big shortfall.
i call bullshit on your bullshit.

[trudyco]

12. Why can't the city just use Eminent Domain? -nt

[mortlefaucheur]

19. The article is unclear who actually

owns the land after the court case. Eminent domain would quickly remove all doubt.

[Veronica.Franco]

13. Last, Lonely, and Wretched

She sings this one so beautifully ... if any of you haven't heard it please get the double CD "Blessed Are" and experience this great voice ....

(Words and Music by Joan Baez)

You're tired and you're poor,
you long to be free,
but in this Godforsaken land
you find no home, no family
on the many roads that you've wandered
since the day of your birth.
You've become one of the last,
lonely and wretched.

Your hair is matted,
your face and hands are dirty,
and the years that you've toiled
must number somewhere near thirty.
The deepening of a sadness
broke finally into madness.
You are truly one of the last,
lonely and wretched.

Your eyes are wild and frightening
at the same time they are blessed
and I wonder if God died,
turned his back or only just rested.
And you walked out on the seventh day
through the big gates and on your way
to become one of the last,
lonely and wretched.

For once you were a child.
Your cheeks were red,
you were well fed.
You laughed and played
till you got teary,
ran to your mother
when you were weary.

But somewhere you were forsaken
alone I'll not bear the blame
and somehow all was taken,
your mind, your body, your name.
Forgive us our unkindness,
our desertion and our blindness,
with you, all the last,
lonely and wretched.
Forgive us, all the last,
lonely and wretched.

[Wilms]

15. K&R n/t

[htuttle]

16. Well then...Joan's up a tree.

Go Joan!

[upi402]

17. good for them.

i like that stuff, it warms the heart and inspires -to keep trying.

[EFerrari]

22. Go, Joanie!

:applause: :applause: :applause:

[951-Riverside]

25. She doesnt stay up there all night

...this is what KTLA reported the first day she came