LA Not-So-Confidential
Nov. 26th, 2005 06:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
libertangoI was at David Sucher's City Comforts blog, and going through the extensive blogroll he has. That led me to LA Observed, a round-up of events Angeleno. Nice stuff, but the gem of a pointer there was to The 1947 Project.
It's somewhat like the Pepys' diary blog that's out there: They take today's date, roll it back to 1947, and post a news item from the time. Frequently this is followed up by then-and-now photos, or just now photos, and remarkably good smart-ass commentary.
They've just started doing a countdown to the discovery of the body of Elizabeth Short, better known as the Black Dahlia -- still one of the great unsolved murder mysteries, ever. The body was treated in what looks like a highly ritualistic fashion (sawn in half, drained of blood, various decorative cuts into the skin), which would seem to point to a classic serial killer profile. Trouble is, there was never another body found that matched the modus operandi of whoever the Dahlia killer was. On top of that, the thing got grabbed by the tabloid press of the time, leading to enough publicity that the LAPD launched the most extensive manhunt seen 'til then.
If this sounds like a James Ellroy novel, well, it was one. But there really was a Betty Short, and she really did die in a gruesome way.
Anyway... If you like your noir memories off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush, you'll dig The 1947 Project.
It's somewhat like the Pepys' diary blog that's out there: They take today's date, roll it back to 1947, and post a news item from the time. Frequently this is followed up by then-and-now photos, or just now photos, and remarkably good smart-ass commentary.
They've just started doing a countdown to the discovery of the body of Elizabeth Short, better known as the Black Dahlia -- still one of the great unsolved murder mysteries, ever. The body was treated in what looks like a highly ritualistic fashion (sawn in half, drained of blood, various decorative cuts into the skin), which would seem to point to a classic serial killer profile. Trouble is, there was never another body found that matched the modus operandi of whoever the Dahlia killer was. On top of that, the thing got grabbed by the tabloid press of the time, leading to enough publicity that the LAPD launched the most extensive manhunt seen 'til then.
If this sounds like a James Ellroy novel, well, it was one. But there really was a Betty Short, and she really did die in a gruesome way.
Anyway... If you like your noir memories off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush, you'll dig The 1947 Project.
