Iconography

Los Angeles does not have an Eifel Tower or a Big Ben or a Statue of Liberty. 10 million people: That's more people than in Denmark. Still, nada. There is nothing here to point to, to which we can say, in Hollywood disaster film style after the space aliens have destroyed everything, "This is my city. I know I am here because that is there." I still can barely fathom that the artsy aesthetes that planned and built the Getty Center did not come up with some "thing" right there on the hill visible to everybody on the busiest freeway in the United States, the 405. You know, maybe some wings for an angel, City of Angels, get it? Whatever: Let the flock of MFAs up there figure that out. As sublime as the Getty Center is up close and personal, it still looks like a hospital from the street.

Some folks in Beverly Hills put up this small-breasted, large-thighed figure right smack dab in the middle of Rodeo Drive. However, as very thankful I personally am for their efforts, I regret to say the look has not caught on on the West Side.

Okay, okay, granted: Many may argue that the Hollywood Sign is the City of Angels' Eifel Tower, but as apropos as a sign originally erected by a real estate developer, which later came to represent the entertainment industry might just be, I'd like to nominate this chair as the definitive icon, our collective coat of arms for this city. If you have ever sat in this chair or one like it, you know what I mean.

Any guesses why?