Though planned for unveiling at the end of the month, Burbank’s best-kept secret in statues can’t stay secret for very long!
(P.S. Thanks to XX for this peek at the official press release…)
From: Public Information Office
To: Select Media (per BMC)
Subject: Memorial Stadium Dedication Ceremony Information Bulletin #8 (Abstract Only) PLEASE NOTE: NOT FOR PUBLICATION UNTIL 2/22/12
…Crafted in a foreign land not yet identified, the Cusumano Plaza’s proudest contribution so far is this 35-foot-tall depiction of America’s finest in action. Fabricated from rare and unusual alloys long unavailable in our own country, if not illegal, no expense was spared for this largely artisanal effort at creative excellence. Although designed by a local sculptor with wide experience in the promotion of expensive public art projects, it took a select team of exotic craftsman to see the work into its final realization.
And what an effort it was. Planned in secret and constructed in silence, all bets are off as to how many awards and recognitions this enviable production will earn for its proud sponsors, co-sponsors and interested hangers-on. But in deference to its status as a fitting memorial for those brave Burbankers who chose to serve and not to shirk, city fathers have assured the public that only select parties on a “need to know basis” will be allowed to view the work prior to dedication day. At that time invitation-only VIPs will be quietly ushered into the Cusumano Plaza for an official final-final unveiling of the work.
A pre-dedication ceremony hosted by the Mayor of Burbank for his special guests only will be held exactly one week prior to the main event on 2/25/12. And a partially private/public checking-out ceremony is initially planned for a date not yet announced, although several hundred official invitations were mistakenly mailed to nearby Burroughs residents and have since been rescinded…
…Per advice from the City Attorney’s office, please hold off publishing the attached construction/fabrication slide show photos until at least two weeks after the final dedication ceremony. The rumor that several artisans were lost during a preliminary materials-extraction stage has been largely exaggerated…
(Captions: (1) Clearing Burroughs Field in Anticipation; (2) Proud Artist at Work; (3) Dedication; (4) Triumph in Skill; (5) Everyone Pitches In; (6) Steadying Hands for the Voyage Over; (7) A Job Well Done; (8) Hope for the Future.)
Are those camphor trees in that picture?
These are selected photo’s & depictions of “Oversight Committee” activities, prior to the arrival of the runt.
From now on the Brown Act will allow for the Public to “participate”.
BTW…….now that the Stadium is Built & Soon to be Re-Dedicated!!
Question of the Week…..How many John Burroughs Junior High School Graduates also were/and are Burbank High School Graduates?
After Graduation, what was the name of the High School that most students attended AFTER John Burroughs Junior High School?
(Catholic athletes attending LOYOLA don’t count!!)
Apparently this ceremony is turning into one that’s just about Burroughs.
…….and WHICH Burroughs would that be????
The one the Cusumanos went to!
Magic Answers to Dangling Questions……………
Lots of talk about Plaque’s these days…….
Old & New & Proposed……..
At one end of Burbank Boulevard, on the Burbank Senior High School Site rests a Plaque with names remarkably similar to Student names on a Plaque located for some years at Memorial Field.
You betya !!!! The graduates of John Burroughs Junior High School DID attend Burbank High–after all.
(some even graduated, again!!!)
William? The High School does have a clothing optional nutrition period once a week.
Funny you should mention that. In the mid-70s a bunch of the students got together and wanted to change the name from John to William.
The administrators actually listened to them, too. But I don’t think it made it past the board.
February 25, 2012–Memorial Field Festivities
February 29, 2012–U.S. District Court, Los Angeles
Status Conference.
March 2012–Full Blown Trial????
Will the follower tell the Public?
Will the “govmint” tell the follower?
Is the follower willing to ASK?
The 70′s were a good time. Certainly beat out the 80′s by a long shot.
Tell that to the Culture Police now. The 80s are lionized as the good old days, while the 70s have been either completely forgotten about, or worse, ridiculed as an era of shag carpets and lava lamps.
Both of which were actually 60s things, and not 70s. Which just shows you how little the Culture Police know.
I think it’s propaganda, really. That 15-year time period between ’65 and ’80 so blows away anything now that it’s been DELIBERATELY marginalized by the gatekeepers.
BTW, notice all the middle-age bashing in the Times today? Articles ridiculing the older Academy– as if Queen Latifa should be a rightful member instead– and then playing up the 20-something “Mountain Music” festival as understandably preferable to those creepy old geezers in Topanga.
These media companies are so disgraceful now in how they pander to this hoped for 20-something audience. Which they will never get. That’s why I spend most of my time reading public domain Google Books these days. Like who cares what these media people think? They know nothing.
The new Stadium looks great. What scares me is if the City Licensing and Code approved the project. Is this going to be another Burbank screw up with the whole stadium having to be shut down like the Police Station. When I heard the police were taking people to Glendale to be booked, I about shit. How much has that cost the city? Will the bleachers fall down because an inspector signed things off that were done our of code, but approved to save money and to cut corners.
According to Police Sources, the staff is “gathering” the “pertinent information” as of last week.
Whether the #’s will be reliable would be dependent on the interim chief & city attorney.
Saving money & cutting corners are not necessarily parts of a “hand-in-glove” operation. Some elements of “accountability” & “accuracy” along with solid Professional Knowledge would have gone a long way.
Both Fire & Police had assigned Full Time Brass to be their “overseer’s”.
Both Retired.
Couldn’t do a better job on the safety question Citizen Cane. The police/fire headquarters looked good too but then came the rapid collapse of the whole building. Makes you really question the safety of things the city of Burbank stamp as safe. Let’s hope the bleachers collapse on a non school day when no one is there in the middle of the night.
Pretty funny, Cane. But I do hope you are wrong.
Were windows actually put in backwards??
And the “Inspector’s” never noticed??
….and then we “setttled-out-of-Court”?
I have heard there are problems with the city inspectors giving city projects a free ride to save money. Us home owners have to complete every step or our home projects won’t get signed off. Plus the city inspectors never show up on time to sign off on projects. I had my contractor wait all day and the guy never showed. He showed up days later and I had to recall and find my contractor. A bunch of bozos.
City inspectors will also routinely ignore site violations for contractors they like– in particular things like failure to obtain encroachment permits for street and parkway blockages.
It gets worse. Burbank also actively ENCOURAGES its part-time inspectors to moonlight as repair people for private contractors, landlords, whatever. They even have a recommended hiring list with city people’s NAMES on it.
For real. Burbank’s a mighty corrupt town. And just try to get a copy of your OWN inspection report if you’re a tenant. They will NOT give it to you. And if you make a fuss about it they contact your landlord.
I wonder how much money those nerds with the pocket protectors and the pen protectors have cost the city. When I go to City Council, it gets me sick when I see the city leaders patting themselves on the back for having such a great city, when the city is run by clods. We have a good town, but it could be so much better without the political correctness stuff and the higher then holy self serving city leaders.