January's SPIRITS with SPIRITS

GHOULA meets for cocktails in haunted places on the 13th of each month. “SPIRITS with SPIRITS” is a casual social gathering of regional ghost hunters and those that just like ghost stories. Open to all, from the curious skeptic to the passionate phantom pursuer. Make friends, and toast a ghost! Let's put the “Boo!” back into “booze.”

All those who attend will receive a free (square) G.H.O.U.L.A. button. If you already have one, please wear it so others can find you, without asking the staff about our group.

THE DATE: January 13th, 2013 (Sunday)
THE PLACE:Taix (at the bar)
1911 W. Sunset Blvd, Echo Park (map)
THE TIME: 8:00pm - ?
(Kitchen closes at 9pm)

THE GHOST(S):

Taix (pronounced "Tex") first appeared on to GHOULA'S radar a few years ago, when a strange story was reported to us involving mysterious voices heard in the bar area. According to a witness, on one of the nights when live music can be heard in the bar, disembodied, cryptic phrases came out of the speakers, as if someone were whispering into an unseen microphone. Although, the sentence fragments were in whispered tones, those present felt it was a male voice. Everyone just assumed it was interference from a police radio or a walkie-talkie, so the periodical messages were just ignored, while the performers did their best to continue playing. At the end of the night however, when all the sound equipment was off and unplugged, the (unamplified) whispering continued, and sounded like it was coming from within the room (and was not heard outside of the room). Even though a search for the source of the faint whispers commenced, it was never found.

Taix is one of the few local restaurants that GHOULA occasionally get inquires about (When is "Spirits with Spirits" going there?). Even though, GHOULA first heard about it because of the story mentioned, the ghost that everyone knows about is the full-bodied apparition of a man in a white shirt. This male figure is only seen in the kitchen and basement, and is generally seen in the mornings before the restaurant opens. Who this "man" is (or if its the same ghost whispering in the bar) remains a mystery. Who could this ghost that seemingly shows up to work at the start of the day be?

Could it be a member of the Taix Family? This historic restaurant is not only one of the oldest in Los Angeles, it is one of the few in that group that is still owned by the same family. Originally, Taix opened in 1927 at 321 Commercial Street in downtown, when Marius Taix took over a speak-easy, and turned it into a simple restaurant, serving one thing each day, and using long "family-style" tables. These "pot-luck" dinners, where everyone rubbed elbows, was an instant success. In 1963, the next generation opened a second location in Echo Park and called it Les Freres Taix ("The Brothers Taix"), but most called it "The New Taix." Although they denied the new location was part of a plan to move the beloved business out of downtown, within two years the original landmark restaurant was torn down to make way for the Harbor Freeway. Could the ghost be a guardian from the family, keeping an eye on the place?

Maybe its the ghost of Noah Botwin, the man who owned "Botwin's Cafe" at this Echo Park location before the Brothers Taix moved in. Botwin and his restaurant seemed to always be plagued with problems, from expensive battles with unions to a corruption scandal involving pay-offs for an illegal liquor license, so it would kind of make sense that this notorious figure would be cursed to spend eternity here.

Then again, perhaps the spirit is a former employee still reporting to work from beyond the grave. When the new Taix opened, restaurant reporter, Art Ryon wrote that the Echo Park location had young waitresses, instead of the old men at the downtown location. That said, the new location currently has three men who have each worked there for over fifty years. Could the ghost be one of the long line of old men, who have dedicated decades of service toTaix. Or, is it the cursed bartender...

There is a probably apocryphal story of a bartender (in the early 1950s when it was Botwin's Cafe), who bought Mr. Botwin's former car at a cheap price because Botwin felt it was unlucky. Botwin had lost a (then) "20 dollar" gold coin inside the car, and could never find it. Shortly after the bartender bought the car, he drove it off of a bridge and died. It is said that when the tow-ruck lifted the mangled wreck, the gold coin dropped out.

So come out and toast one of Los Angeles' oldest bars, and if you are lucky, and you listen carefully, you may find out who haunts it... if you dare.

http://taixfrench.com/
(to read more about the ghost of this haunted location... )
(to read about last month's haunted location... )
(to see a map of previous SPIRITS with SPIRITS locations... )

Huell Howser - R.I.P.

Although TV personality, Heull Howser, had no involvement in the local paranormal community (as far as we know), his influence on GHOULA was undeniable.

The ideals behind GHOULA's mission to explore different corners of Los Angeles, celebrate the history and folklore of local establishments, and get the personal stories of individuals can be directly traced to the KCET programs "California's Gold," "Visiting," and "Videolog."

Those shows had a tremendous impact on GHOULA co-founder, Richard Carradine, and as a result, the concept of observing and documenting this part Southern Californian life (and/or after-life) became a big part of what GHOULA would become.

An underlying theme of Huell Howser's shows seems to be that as much as you think you know your city (or state), there is always more to learn, discover and experience. For this reason, Huell's recent retirement and death are shocking and feel sudden, as if there was still more work to be done, and even more territory to cover.

GHOULA, in its own small way, will honor Huell by doing our part to continue to share our local discoveries with others, and hope that others will do the same.

Meet a Ghost Buster!

Come out and meet the last remaining, living GHOST BUSTER, the legendary Bob Burns (Tracey the Gorilla). The Ghost Busters was a 1970's children's show, which in addition to being great, and a local creation (shot in Los Angeles), has two claims to fame. First, it was the first TV show about ghost-hunting, where the investigators used equipment and devices to track ghosts. Secondly, it is where the successful 1980's movie staring Dan Ackroyd got the its name.

When: Saturday, 2 p.m.
Where: Dark Delicacies 3512 West Magnolia Boulevard Burbank

Dark Delicacies presents "Men in Suits" (DVD) with Bob Burns (Ghost Busters), Tom Woodruff Jr (Alien 3), Doug Jones (Pan’s Labyrinth), Michelan Sistiand (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), Brian Steele (Predators), Camden Toy (Buffy), Misty Rosas (Congo), William Malone and John Goodwin. Beast Wishes (DVD) signing with Kathy Burns, Bob Burns, Frank Dietz, Trish Geiger, Dana Gould, Joe Dante, Steve Wang, William Stout. Bob and Kathy Burns signing their models.

GHOULA's Annual Report 2012

(Alhambran F.E. Ormsby, creator of the 13 month calendar, 1929)

HAPPY BOOOOOOOOO YEAR!

GHOULA has many great things planned for the upcoming year. It is 2013, after all.

But first, let's take a last look back at 2012.

"SPIRITS with SPIRITS" continued its monthly meetings, visiting 11 new haunted restaurants/bars (and one possibly haunted bar) in the Los Angeles area. (To revisit the 2012 "SPIRITS with SPIRITS" locations see below)

Last Year, in addition to letting Angelenos know about ghost-themed events that are happening in their own back yard, GHOULA also continued its other usual features like...
"REAL GHOSTS with REEL GHOSTS," where anytime a movie about ghosts was shown in a haunted local theater, the details were posted on this site, and "BOOs Alert," where a link is posted to a news site that mentions a local ghost story.

GHOULA also started two new features...
"(Haunted) Haunted Attractions," where the true ghost stories are revealed about local Halloween attractions. Plus, "BOO-ook Club," where GHOULA provides a forum for people to discuss local ghost-lit.

We also brought back our "Haunted Films in Haunted Places" film series in October. In a partnership with the Echo Park Film Center's Filmmobile. For a third year, we screened a movie with "haunted" in the title in actual haunted location that corresponded thematically with that film. We showed "Tormented by the She Ghost of Haunted Island," which is about an haunted lighthouse on a screen next to the haunted Point Fermin Lighthouse in San Pedro.

GHOULA also hosted it's first (and maybe last) "Haunted VCR Movie Night," where a ghost-themed move (on VHS) was played on (according to claims) a haunted VCR, while participants used a "spirit board" painted on the VCR to communicate with the spirit(s) that haunt the machine. The event took place in a secret underground location in Chinatown thanks to our friends at Beta Level.

Last Year, we created the "GHOULA Challenge," where we asked the paranormal community to help assist in solving some of our city's great "unsolved" murders, by (paranomally) investigating the "crime scenes" on the actual anniversary of the the murder, in hopes that perhaps some spirit communication or ghostly evidence could shed new light on these old cases. We chose the Ned Doheny Murder of 1929, and the William Desmond Taylor Murder of 1922. On the 90th anniversary of the Taylor murder, GHOULA held a meet-up at the 1920's bar, The Prince, to discuss the case. The evening was even mentioned on the BBC News.

Along these lines of marking certain days connected to local ghost lore, we initiated last year, what we hope will be an annual event, the "Peg Entwhistle Memorial Hike" to the Hollywood Sign, on the anniversary of her suicide (jumping off of the "H"), along the very same trails that hikers claim to have seen her ghost.

Because of our groups interest in local history and the folklore of this city, GHOULA was invited to participate in the annual Heritage Day event (in April) held at the very historic (and haunted) Pico House on Olvera Street, along with all of Los Angeles' Historical Societies

With protecting our local history on our minds, in 2012 GHOULA launched a "para-preservation" program to help raise money and awareness for haunted, historic properties in need of funds. We were able to set up access for paranormal investigators to investigate a historic property that had not been previously available. Ghost hunters were charged a fee and all money raised went to the historic property.

We also celebrated the arts, by participating in a "Ghost Night" celebration of storytelling and music at the Hyperion Tavern, participating in "Halloween at the Barn," an evening of Hollywood ghost stories, and hosting a "Ghost Night" at the EVE Gallery with storytelling and a ghost-themed art show.

Speaking of combining art and storytelling, Last year we released issue #2 of GHOULA Comix with a number of local comic book artists. (check it out here...)

Last October, GHOULA also began it first in a series of ghost-themed walking tours with our "Haunted Red Line Tour," where we took groups along the Metro's Red Line. stopping at various stations to talk about the ghosts and haunted sites at that location.

2012 was a great year for GHOULA, and judging from the surprises that are in the works, 2013 will be even better (now that we don't have to worry about the end of the world anymore).

The SPIRITS with SPIRITS locations of 2011.

January - Frolic Room
February - Barney's Beanery
March - Beverly Hilton
April - Coral Cafe
May - Ink/Sweet Lady Jane
June - Hyperion Tavern
July - One-Eyed Gypsy
August - Townhouse
September - Yamashiro
October - Intelligensia Coffee
November - Bar 107
December - The Redwood Bar and Grill

(To view last year's annual report...)