Cemetery Park

Cemetery Park, Main Street, Ventura

A family plot

I discovered Cemetery Park shortly after I moved to Ventura 15 years ago. It's about a mile from the Mission between there and Ventura High. I was walking my dog when I came across the large, open space. There were no signs at the time, save "1936" on a stone retaining wall that faced Main street. It was maintained, though, and not fenced, so I figured it was a public space. I noticed fairly quickly that it didn't share the other qualities that parks in the city had, no playground nor restrooms, no tables nor benches, nor anything else that a park normally had. The one thing that was apparent was that it was a dog walker's paradise. It seemed to be the place that everyone brought their dogs, though it's not officially a dog park.

Walking through the center of the park, I noticed small, concrete and bronze markers with names and dates. They were all uniform in size, and seemed a bit random in their placement, though occasionally there would be a series of family names grouped in a way that would imply some sort of burial plot. At the time, there was nothing to mark it, but I figured out that this green space was at one point the town cemetery! And like the old movie, Poltergeist, most likely all of the bodies were still there! And now, it was a dog park! And, of course, all the dogs would become possessed and go home and eat their masters!

I did think that last one, briefly in passing, but figured that probably wasn't going to happen.

The mission was founded in the 1790's and the high school dates from roughly 1889, so as the town expanded, it enveloped this site. What I didn't understand was why the site didn't seem to have age appropriate headstones. I was thinking that this park might make an interesting article for some magazine or other (I was feeling pretty confident at the time with my one published LA Times article) and so I called Richard Senate, the Ventura historian, who gave me a bit of the history of the park.

Mr. Senate gave me information, I found some more on the internet, and the rest I can kind of piece together from being a history major. From what I can gather, when the mission grounds could no longer hold the dead (The mission eventually built a school on it's original graveyard-a discussion for another time), new land was selected on Main Street on the crest of the hill and outside of what was then city limits. The first burial in the newly named St. Mary's Cemetery happened in about 1862, and the graveyard had specific areas for Protestants and Jews, and though the current signage doesn't mention it, the space most likely had a section specific to the Chinese, (One of the new commemoration signs does mention a Chinese pioneer), and other ethnic groups.

Facing Main Street

According to several things that I came across, the space was full with at least 3000 residents, and the last burial was done sometime in the 1940's. Around that time the city was given some of the land and purchased the rest for some sort of recreation center. Apparently that didn't pan out, and though the parking lot from that project remains, the building does not.

Improvements Coming!

Veteran's Memorial on the way

It's hard to say how important the invention of the weed-whacker is, but that seems to be the reason that the park fell into disrepair. Looking at the pictures on the Restore St. Mary's Cemetery website, the cemetery had fancy grave markers that would have been labor intensive to maintain without a weed-whacker, and it seems as though sometime in the 60's the city decided to simply move the tombstones. In spite of having many of the city founders interned in the cemetery, and them having family that still lived (and lives) in the area, the city was able to convert the space with minimal fuss. They simply moved the headstones, dumping some in nearby canyons, grinding others and using them for fill at Olivas Golf Course levees, and the rest turning up in odd places all over the city. A few of the remains were moved but most stayed right where they had been laid to rest.

The historian in me finds graveyards fascinating, and I have often stopped and poked around them on various trips through various cities and countries. I find looking at tombstones peaceful, and wonder about the people resting there. And though I can't say that I'm an expert in such matters, I don't think I've ever heard of a graveyard being turned into a park by simply moving the tombstones. But that apparently was the case here.

Personally, I'm okay with the space being turned into a park, but I'm happy that some acknowledgement of the history of the cemetery is now being made. The space is being relandscaped, removing some rather ugly hedges and adding historical signs that talk about the important people that still rest here. A Veteran's memorial is being created, and the city is taking pains to spruce up the area. Cemetery Park has some of the best views in the city, and I'm sure that the dead don't mind the company.

As long as you remember to pick up after your dog.

Burrito Express, Oxnard

Burrito Express

230 South Ventura Road

Oxnard CA

(805) 385-9700

Burrito Express in Oxnard is one of those places that is successful because it does what it does well. They make Mexican food in a traditional fashion with a nod to local tastes. They support local youth groups and teams, as evidenced by all the "Thank You," plaques around the dining area. It's a family run restaurant, and they'll happily talk about the teams their kids are on and the local school that they attend. Tiles in the dining room were made by local school children. 

But above all, the food is good.

$7.75 for the whole meal!

On a recent visit, I had a ceviche tostada and a asada taco, along with an Orange Whip. The tacos are larger than the standard street taco, something to remember when ordering. The ceviche was fresh, with a side of chips, and the Orange Whip was all you can drink from the self serve fountain. There is a soda fountain, too, and some Jarritos and Mexican Coke in bottles. No beer or other spirits, which is fitting for the family style atmosphere they have. 

Burritos are large and filling, a larger variety of tacos are made, tortas, and other specialties fill out the menu and menudo on the weekends, all served quickly. There's a large dining room (they took over the space that was once occupied by a Quiznos), which is always clean, a fresh salsa bar, and it looks like they are preparing a salad bar section and ice cream as well.

My ceviche and taco meal with a drink and chips came in at under $8, and was certainly filling.

Buenaventura 6, 1440 Eastman Ave., Ventura

I love going to the movies. When I was small, my family would go to one of those 1920's era movie houses, the Alcazar in Bell, though it was approaching it's final days. For a big treat, we would head to Cerritos Mall, or Lakewood Center (which showed cartoons before the feature), which were both multiplexes. Though I didn't realize it at the time, the Alcazar had the bigger screen and better movie experience. The multiplexes at the mall just seemed more modern.

My point, though, was even with the advent of video, I still liked heading to the movie house. There's something communal in sitting in the dark and watching with others, and sometimes, that shared experience highlights something otherwise missed. I once saw Casablanca with a sold out crowd at the Orpheum, and jokes that I didn't realize were there in the previous 10 times I'd seen the film were suddenly pretty funny. Comedy and action films especially lose something at home and just need to be seen with other people.

Movies for two at $9 each isn't too bad, but to take a family gets pretty expensive. Then, there's popcorn-I love movie popcorn-drinks, maybe some candy, and it becomes cost prohibitive to see many films at all.

At $3 all the time, the Buenaventura 6 is just awesome-no other way to describe it. $6 for freshly made popcorn, with a free refill, and $1 hot dogs, and I'll go see any kiddie, romantic comedy, chick flick film that comes out. I'll pretty much see anything that shows up there that even remotely catches my fancy. The theatre has large screens, friendly staff, pretty good sound and is generally pretty clean. Enough of a crowd goes so that you get that sense of communal experience, but generally not so many that you feel crowded. There always seems to be a lot of staff around, too, which I think makes for a pretty safe movie experience. I've always been able to sneak in a soda and drinks for the kids, so I can generally get any configuration of my family in the door and filled with popcorn for under $20. They even show the occasional 3-D film for just $2 more.

In the trade, it would be called a "second run" theatre, meaning that you won't see a film here until it's been out a few weeks. Still, most movies open and close at the first run theaters so quickly that they end up here in literally a few weeks. I don't need to be the first to see anything anymore, and if there's something that I really need to see right away, I'll drive out to Santa Paula 7 and catch the $5.50 matinee.

I'm there almost every week, and sometimes I might go twice in the same weekend.

Gloria's Kitchen

Gloria's Kitchen
2881 Loma Vista Rd.
Ventura, CA

Across the street from Ventura Community Memorial Hospital, Gloria's Kitchen serves Mexican food in a coffee shop setting. My family has been heading there for breakfast on Sunday's for years. They have good, fresh menudo, chilaquiles, and assorted other Mexican food items, all priced reasonably well.

Over the dozen or so years that I've been going there, I've probably had everything on the menu, and it's all good. The service is always quick and friendly, the kind of place where your coffee cup is never more than half empty before it's refilled, even on days when it's packed. The bowls of chips keep coming, and the salsa verde on the tables is always fresh, too. The restaurant itself is worn but clean.

Not necessarily a special trip restaurant, but certainly worth a visit if your in the area for breakfast.

I believe they are open for dinner, but I've always gone for either breakfast or lunch.

Nashville Tuning and The Harmony Stella H929

I won this Harmony Stella H929 by accident from the Goodwill Auction site last July. I had put in a low bid because I really didn't want or need another guitar. Still, $55 (including shipping) latter, it ended up on my doorstep.

Bad Nut

S 64

When I got it, I noticed that the nut was bad and the low E string wouldn't stay in place. Other than that, there wasn't much that seemed unusual or troublesome with the guitar. It has some fret wear, and was dirty but not excessively so. No major cracks, the neck (though as thick as a baseball bat) was solid, and all parts were present. The tuning machines are stiff but useable. Even with the old strings that were on it, it didn't sound bad.

New Nut

I have a good Arts and Lutherie parlor guitar, and a Taylor Mini, so though this Stella wasn't in bad shape, I didn't know what to do with it. I just let it sit in the garage for a few months, thinking that I'd need to replace the nut at some point and tune it up. Then, while thumbing through an old Guitar Player magazine, I stumbled on an article on Nashville tuning. In Nashville tuning, the guitar is tuned using the high ocatve strings that would be on a 12 string guitar. I had an old set of strings, and thought this guitar would be perfect for Nashville tuning. The big neck meant that I was mostly going to use this for strumming, so having it tuned differently than my other guitars made sense.

eBay provided a new nut for a few bucks, which I installed using Elmer's Wood Glue after easily popping the old one off. I used some furniture wipes to clean and polish the exterior and a shop vac to collect the dust bunnies on the interior. It polished up pretty good, much better than what is showing in the pictures. I had some strings that I bought a few years back and pulled them out for tuning. 

The guitar now has an interesting, jangly 12 string sound without having 12 strings. I find it difficult to play scales on it, because the notes on the B and high E are lower than the G, but it sounds great strumming big, cowboy chords. 

I wouldn't do all my playing with a guitar tuned this way, but it does make a nice change of pace. It's a great use for this inexpensive guitar.

If you're looking for information on Harmony guitars, please visit The Harmony Database. They have tons of info and pictures of these old guitars.

 

New Years Eve

I started this blog so that I would write. Like many bloggers, there's a frustrated novelist in me, and I'm trying to push that writer out. I've kept a journal since I was a child, and I've written occasional, unpublished short stories. I've written for UCLA's Daily Bruin in 1986, where I wrote book and record reviews. I wrote for Cal State Fullerton's Daily Titan in 1988, again writing record reviews. I tried some freelance articles, and actually sold one to the LA Times about my inlaws back in 2000, making me a big hit with my new family-and since I was paid, making me a professional writer. The hardest thing is getting the second piece sold, and I haven't been able to do that. I briefly was an unpaid columnist for the NISCA Review which I'm not sure is even printed anymore. Someday, when I grow up, I want to be a professional writer.

I do like writing, and I felt that writing about my adopted home town of Ventura would give me a variety of topics. Ventura is a pretty cool place. My family and I do some interesting things, and we've found some unusual things to do here.

Then I noticed that I actually enjoy fiddling with my guitars as much as I do playing them, so the adventures in fixing my vintage Crown electric and my Fame acoustic also become things to write about.

Now that I've been at this a while, there's other things that I want to write about. Like many bloggers out there, I have opinions that I want to share in public, but I don't want to burden my Facebook friends. So, here in the blogosphere, I have some anonimity, but I can still write.

My New Years Resolution, borrowed from a fellow blogger I met in the summer, is to simply publish once a week. I've been trying to keep to that since summer, but now, that is my goal. 52 posts by this time next year.

Let's see how I do.

If you read this, feel free to comment. It's good to get feedback.

Oscar Schmidt OU26T

Last April, I was on the Big Island of Hawaii. While shopping in Hilo, I walked into what I thought was a rather unusual establishment, Agasi Furniture and Music. In the back of the furniture store was a music section with a rather good selection of ukulele's. The store wasn't busy, and one of the owners spent a great deal of time talking to me and didn't seem overly troubled when I picked up rather expensive, vintage ukuleles and banged them around.

The standout for me was a used Kamaka 6 string tenor, which I could not hope to afford, even though it was quite a bit less then a new one. Then I picked up an Oscar Schmidt OU26T, a Chinese 6 string tenor which I could afford, and I almost bought it, but decided to check eBay and maybe buy it when I planned on being back in Hilo (we were staying in Kona) sometime before we left. Of course, we never made it back, and it bummed me out the whole flight home.

With the handmade strap
from Anacapa Ukulele

So I surfed eBay, and was about to buy one. Then I noticed that the Oscar Schmidt was available for my credit card bonus points. The majority of those points I earned while I was in Hawaii, so it made sense to use some for something that I really wanted but didn't buy myself.

Six strings-should be easy

When it got to my house, I was totally bummed. It sounded utterly like crap, and I couldn't figure out why. It was strung in some funky way, and I tried tuning the strings in different ways, but nothing worked. Finally, I found some good pictures of the Kamaka online, and noticed that it was strung completely different then mine. A new ukulele shop had opened here in Ventura, Anacapa Ukulele, and I brought the ukulele in so they could have a look at it. Immediately, they figured out the problem. It was strung totally wrong. It wasn't even close, strings were out of order and crossed over one another, as if the person stringing didn't have a clue as to what the uke was supposed to sound like. They recommended I buy a new set and string it again. Anacapa had one set of the 6 strings left, and I bought them and a handmade ukulele strap. I took it all home to string my uke over.

I have some experience with guitar stringing, and wasn't anticipating having any trouble stringing a uke. Six strings, geared enclosed tuning machines, seemed pretty straightforward to me. The first thing was remembering the order of the strings. Some pictures on the internet solved that. Then I noticed that I needed to knot the ends myself. No problem, I found a video on You Tube.

What I didn't know was that nylon strings take forever to stretch out properly. For two weeks, I couldn't keep the uke in tune at all. I kept tuning it and tuning it. The two A strings were a nightmare, trying to get them an octave apart and stay in tune just didn't seem to be happening. Back to Anacapa, who explained to me that it takes about two to three weeks for the strings to stretch out properly. So I kept at it, and sure enough, the strings stayed in tune.

It still sounded like crap.

Initially, I just thought it was my playing, but I'd pick up my old Regal that I bought on the Goodwill Auction site and I wasn't playing that bad. More internet research told me that the wood itself needed to settle, and that could take some time. So I kept on playing it, and after a few months the sound become better. Now it sounds pretty good, actually. I've pulled it out for the first time in about a month, and it's still pretty much in tune, and the sound is getting brighter.

The Oscar Schmidt website says that this is a mahogany tenor size ukulele with a satin finish. I found the finish to be a bit rough. The uke seems a bit on the heavy side as well. Everything else, though, seems reasonably well made, and I especially like the binding on the fretboard. The weight means that I don't feel like I'm going to break it anytime soon.

The main thing about a 6 string uke is that the sound is much fuller, and that's what I appreciated when I first picked one up in Hawaii. The 6 string Kamaka sounded amazing and I seriously thought about plunking down the cash and feeling the wrath of my wife, but couldn't do it. I played around with the 8 string uke, but to my ears, that sounded crowded-and I was playing a $1400 Kamaka, so if I couldn't get that to sound good, I figured the 8 string wasn't going to be for me.

Until such time that I can afford a Kamaka, or I become a much better ukulele player, the Oscar Schmidt fills the niche of the six string. I have it tuned gCEA, with the C string doubled an octave apart and the A string doubled and an octave apart. Unlike the Yamaha Guitalele, which is tuned like a guitar but up a fourth, the OU26T still sounds like a uke.

If you check on eBay, you can find them for around $100, a price that I'd be willing to pay.