The City Prolific: First Weekend of the Year Events Jan. 4 - 6

I'm not much one for making New Year's resolutions, although I am one for reflection, and goal-making.  I've also recently, say, in the last three years, become one for planning.  I've found that making a plan is far more effective for me than making goals, and certainly more so than making resolutions.

One could argue that this is just semantics, but there is a difference. A plan is comprised of actual, actionable steps, whereas a goal is, to me, just an image, a picture.  It's something you might want to realize, but how? The how is the plan. A resolution, on the other hand, is a mere abstraction. Meaningless.

That said, this year, I plan to soften the edges of my life by minimizing the number of activities to which I am committed.  This will entail saying 'no' more often (currently, the word 'yes' drops from my mouth far too often, weighing down my potential to succeed at any of the activities to which I've agreed). Whittling down will allow me to be generally more present and focused.

In addition, I plan (hope, rather) to maintain the feeling I experienced in this moment:

I was at the top of Alta Ski Resort, and transfixed by the sky.  Tiny flurries of snow glistened under the sun.  It was like being inside a snow globe.  I would like to maintain the sense of wonder and tranquility that I felt just then, as I stared up at the heavens.

I also plan to see more theatre. I saw almost no theatre last year, which is shameful. I'm an actor, for chrissakes.  So, my plans this weekend include:

"Their Eyes Saw Rain" at Company of Angels

I auditioned for this show, and gave what I can easily say is the worst audition of my life.  It was terrible.  Shit happens, especially to actors.  But, I loved the script, and am very glad the run was extended.  I know the sound designer. And I love that the company performs in the historic Alexandria Hotel. It's like stepping into Downtown LA circa 1931, in it's most gilded, glamorous age.

"Gravid Water" at UCB

Actors and improvisors perform together, the actors speaking their lines from established plays, and the improvisors improvising opposite them, with no prior knowledge of the scenes.  It's much fun.

Here are some more events for you to choose, for your first weekend of 2013:

FRIDAY, JANUARY 4TH

Horrible Movie Night

Everybody loves a good bad movie. Especially with an audience.  Horrible Movie Night at NerdMelt Comics schedules stand-up comedy based on the film to spice things up, and they welcome your heckling (during the movie, not the standup sets), and the wittiest heckles win a prize. Make sure you get your tickets in advance (they're cheaper that way).  

$8 in advance ($10 at the door) 

8:00pm (Doors 7:30)

NerdMelt Theater

7522 Sunset Blvd.

Hollywood, Calif., 90046

2013 Wishful Predictions

Happy New Year, Everybody!

I had a long, and much needed holiday vacation.  A thing about me: when I go on vacation, I really go on vacation.  I disconnect completely and cease all productivity.  Hence, the long delay in my posting here.

But I'm back! And I'm rested! Re-energized! Onward.

Here are my wishful predictions for LA's upcoming year.  I'll jump for joy to see any of the following take place:

• Plans to develop a cross-town trainline from Union Station along the entire distance of Sunset Boulevard.  Yes, I know the city is still working on the Subway to the Sea, and that's great, but it runs along Wilshire, which is not within walking distance of my home.


• Malibu Wine Country laws to change to allow tasting rooms to operate at the actual wineries.


• Good Hangs, Cheap Drinks: Let's please see a trend away from cocktail revival bars and their $12 drinks toward neighborhood dives and $6 drinks.


• A revamp of the Macy's plaza downtown.  Macy's Plaza is bleak and depressing, but it sits on prime real estate in the heart of downtown.  With a revamp, it could be a great shopping and entertainment destination.  LA needs a better, more accessible shopping district that is in the actual city, rather than a pre-fab mall like The Grove or The Americana, or inaccessible, bougie Beverly Hills.  I mean, there's a subway station directly across the street!! Where better to develop LA's Rockefeller Plaza or the like?  Oooh! Turns out it's already in the works! Score!


• Better stores at Hollywood and Highland.  There's a huge outdoor mall there on prime real estate, but the only decent stores are Zara, a tiny H&M, and a Sephora. BCBG and Bebe? Blech.  Let's see a J Crew, Banana Repbulic, Urban Outfitters! Please! And how about a book store? Barnes and Noble, if nothing else?  I mean, there's a subway station directly below! Where better for good shopping? C'mon.

Okay, get at it, LA!  Here's to a prosperous, adventurous, less car-dependent, more metropolitan 2013!

A Food Tour of New York

After my too-brief weekend in NYC, I have compiled a list of a few of my favorite city eats. Despite common belief, New York ought not be experienced solely inside the Michelin rated restaurants of Wolfgang Puck and Mario Batali. No, the real New York lives in the holes in the wall, where the floors crumble under their age, and the aromas of authentic cuisines from around the world mingle in the street.

Go to these places, and you will have experienced New York at its best.

Soup Dumplings at Shanghai Cafe

Dumplings with soup inside. Delectable dim sum and delicious tea.  In the heart of my favorite NYC neighborhood.  Chinatown is a world of wonder.

Pierogis and Borscht at B & H Dairy

A hole of all holes in the wall, this place makes the best pierogis in Manhattan. Greenpoint, well, that's a different matter.  This place has been around forever, and I hope it remains forever. I don't know why it has 'dairy' in the name. Maybe because they serve sour cream with everything.

Cafe con Leche and Chicken Soup at El Castillo De Jagua

This chicken soup embodies comfort food. Hearty, salty, thick. The cafe con leche is perfect, a better day in a cup.

Halva and Turkish Delight from Economy Candy

Directly across the street from El Castillo de Jagua. It's an overwhelmingly well-stocked candy store, like the kind you envision from the 1940's. In fact, this place has been in business since 1937, and it's like stepping into a sweet, sweet time warp. I like to order freshly cut halvah and turkish delight by the pound.

Pelmeni at Uncle Vanya Cafe

Can you tell that I like dumplings? Chinese dumplings, Polish dumplings, Russian dumplings, I love them all.  I also love Russia, and being at Uncle Vanya Cafe feels like being in Russia. It's authentic; it's yummy.


An Egg and Cheese Sandwich at any Deli

No one in California knows how to make a decent egg and cheese sandwich, and those who try, charge way too much and are skimpy with the cheese. In NYC, an egg and cheese on a roll with salt and pepper costs between $2.50 and $3.50, and is huge and oozes with American cheese.  The more hole-in-the-wall the deli, the better the sandwich. It's a thing about NY that I miss very much.

These are all things that I miss about New York. Inexpensive foods from around the world, available in such quantities that you can grab a bite of heaven-on-earth as you go about your every day.

Don't Go, Huell Howser.

The LA Times reports that Huell Howser is retiring.  If don't believe I've ever heard sadder news for local California television.

Huell Howser, with his exuberant, Southern, every-man accent, easily wondered over California's unique natural, historical, and entertainment/tourism sites.  He traveled all over the state with a small film crew, exclaiming in his odd way over every thing imaginable.  His enthusiasm for otherwise fairly ordinary things, "A HOT DOG on a STICK!" always caused me to smile so big my cheeks would hurt.

There are rumors that he is ill, and as he is only 67 years old, I certainly hope the rumors are false.  Huell Howser goes hand in hand with California's sunny skies, bright horizons, and colorful characters. Please never stop doing the work you're doing Huell. And if you're ill, please, I beg you, get better.

Holiday Travelers

Back in August, my husband and I missed a flight from LAX to SLC, due to no fault of our own. The fault laid squarely on the airport and it's Soviet-era security lines. Just last week, L.A. Business Journal reported that LAX is the second-most stressful airport in the country.  The emotional meltdown I experienced after the Delta Airlines gate attendants refused to let us on the flight would be a perfect illustration of the truth behind this report.

I am headed to the airport tonight, to catch the red-eye to Boston. I will be taking the 6:01pm metro red line to the Union Station Flyaway shuttle. When I touch ground in Boston just before 6:00am eastern time, I will have been traveling for nine hours.  My in-laws will pick me up, and when we arrive in New Hampshire, my travel time will have expanded to eleven hours.

I am anxious about the flight, anxious about how uncomfortable and tired I will be early tomorrow morning.  Each year, I wonder why - why do we put ourselves through such stress? Wouldn't it be nice to stay local, relax, keep our clothes in our closet, the luggage in storage, and cook our own turkey dinner? Well, the answer is family. We moved to Los Angeles for career pursuits. Our family does not live here. We so often feel isolated from the comfort and security that comes with being close to family. Throwing a party? Need some extra chairs or tables? Call your dad, he might have some you can borrow. Cooking a large casserole, need a bigger pan? Call your mom, you can borrow hers. Husband out of town? Tire blown on the freeway? Call your sister, she'll pick you up.  This is a network of security, of love, of I'll do anything for you.  Friends can help, but their support will never match the strength of that which comes from family.

We are and always will be the travelers, coming from the city where no one else lives, entering into the world of our parents, our siblings. We travel to bridge the distance. Yet, with each return to our current city, it seems that the distance grows, inches with each journey.  L.A. now seems further away than it did in the beginning.

The City Prolific: Weekend Events Nov. 15 - 18

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14

LACMA Liveread of Manhattan, Directed by Jason Reitman

This is the second installment of Jason Reitman’s  2012–2013 Live Read series.  Jason chooses a surprise celebrity cast to read Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman's script of Manhattan on the Bing Theater stage. What a magical event. Go.

STANDBY ONLY: A stand-by line will form at 6:30 pm at the Hammer Building Ticket Office. Seating not guaranteed; guests will be accommodated on a first-come, first-served basis.

$10

LACMA
5905 Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90036

FRIDAY, NOV 15

Scion A/V Presents Dust La Rock and Cody Hudson: A Lovely Sort of Death

"A Lovely Sort of Death" marks the collaboration between Jokers of the Scene and visual artists Dust La Rock and Cody Hudson to accompany their exhibition of the same name. Opening reception Friday night.

Free with RSVP.

Opening Reception 6:00–9:00pm

661 N. Spaulding Ave
Los Angeles CA 90036

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16

The Great Los Angeles Walk

Get out of your car, and on your feet!  Every Saturday before Thanksgiving, Angelenos meet up on the street, and WALK ACROSS LOS ANGELES. But nobody walks in LA, right? Wrong!

This year, meet other walkers on the front steps of downtown’s Walt Disney Concert Hall (at 1st and Grand). There will be a speaker or two to kick things off, at around 8:45, so get there early. The Walk leaves PROMPTLY at 9.  They're expecting over 250 hikers this year!

From the Walt Disney Concert Hall, you'll walk west on 1st, which turns into Beverly Blvd. And then north on Virgil, west on Melrose Avenue, to the end -- when you'll then make a left on to Santa Monica Boulevard, which you'll take to the ocean.

Free!

Start point: Walt Disney Concert Hall
111 South Grand Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(but you can join up anywhere along the route)

The City Prolific: Weekend Events Nov 2 - 4

Halloween is over. Hopefully we have recovered from our sugar crashes and hangovers.  Just in time, because this weekend is all about sugar skulls and tequila.  This weekends events encompass two things: Dia de los Muertos and Downtown L.A.  It will be colorful.  It will be fun.  It will be very L.A.

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2

Downtown Dia de los Muertos at Grand Park

Have you been to Grand Park yet? Have you been to an LA Dia de los Muertos event yet? Both are necessities. And tonight, you have a great reason to do both.

¡Spectacular altars, food trucks, bands and full bar en el centro de Los Ángeles.

Performances by Mariachi el Bronx, El Conjunto Nueva Ola, Upground, Buyeongo, Trio Ellas, and more. Plus mucho DJs spinning all night!  Altars curated by Victor Payan and Pocha Pena.

Free / Gratis

5pm-11pm

Check the full lineup here.

East Side Luv's 7th Annual Night of the LUVing DEAD

Have you ever been to Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights? It is one of L.A.'s exquisite community gems, and this is sure to be a quintessential Angeleno block party.  Come out and celebrate Life & Death.  Feel free to bring something to contribute to the ALTAR in memory of a loved one.   It is highly recommended that you take the Metro Goldline Train in & out because parking is limited. There will be 2 Parking Lots, but they may go quickly as they are expecting thousands of attendees!

Hosted by Richard Montoya of Culture Clash and Alexis De La Rocha of Beatmo & MorrisseyOke

¡¡¡ Day of the Dead Face Painting Highly Encouraged !!!

Free

2pm till 2am

Outdoors till 12am
Inside till 2am

At the MTA Goldline Mariachi Plaza Stage
Pleasant Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90033

Check the full lineup here.

Ready, Set, Run!

Remember when I wrote about my Free Run Days?  The product of that endeavor is now realized.  Watch it here:

The City Prolific: Weekend Events October 26 - 28

It's Halloween in LA. That means it's 80 degrees, the Santa Anas are relentless, and your jack-o-lanterns are moldy and rotting.  Get out and get your spook on.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26

NewFilmMakers October Screening

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles holds its October screening tonight of a dozen new short films at Sunset Gower Studios. There are pre- and post-receptions for each program, a filmmakers’ lounge, and audience Q&A sessions.  It's a fun way to see the studio campus, and support and network with new filmmakers.

$6

Three programs: 6:30 pm, 8:00 pm and the third at 11:00 pm

Sunset Gower Studios

1438 N. Gower St. Box 83

Hollywood CA 90028

Friday Night Flicks Presents "The Descent"

A group of close female friends on a yearly adventure vacation find themselves trapped and hunted in a series of caves. The expedition takes a turn for the worse after a rock fall leaves them stranded in an uncharted cave with no map and only a handful of supplies. As tensions arise in the group, they are faced with another danger—one whose love of the dark is as strong as its lust for blood.  Pack a picnic basket, lawn seating.

Free

8pm

Pershing Square
532 S Olive St
Los Angeles 90189

Endeavour

Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Associated Press

Endeavour started at NASA.  It went to space several times over several years. Then it went back to NASA, before it was shipped to LAX and did some fly-overs over landmarks across the nation including Griffith Park and Hollywood, and then it went back to LAX, before it was carted across town to the California Science Museum.

I missed every step of the journey.  I received a text from my husband, "Endeavour over Hollywood right now!" and made it out to my office parking lot just a few minutes too late.  During the cross-town, pilgrimage-like (past meets present, wheels and handcarts) phase of its trek, I didn't have a chance to drive to Culver City where its route seemed to be mapped.  I missed seeing it carted along boulevards throughout Los Angeles, missed watching its wheels turn a corner while its wings nearly brushed lookers-on standing on their balconies, missed observing the careful engineering of the tow, the workers calling halt and reversing the track by two feet to get the turn right.

It flew all about my mind, though. Why is it here, how many people are working on getting it from point A to point B, how long ago did they map the route, will they feel any pride after it reaches its final destination, how did the California Science Museum get it (there must have been an RFP), are the men in the orange suits LAX employees or NASA employees, were the people on the balcony scared?

The LA Times posted a time lapse video of the entire local journey. It helps satiate the disappointment I felt in not having been a witness. It also fills me with pride that so many others got to see it, particularly  those who live in the lower-middle class areas that this astounding thing crawled through.  What a privilege.

Click here to watch the time-lapse. (Tip: watch it full screen.)

The City Prolific: Weekend Events October 12 - 14

It is officially Autumn in LA, as evidenced by these refreshing temperatures and tumbling skies.  Last weekend, we went to one of our favorite events of the year, the Eagle Rock Music Festival. We've lived in LA for four years now, and each year the Eagle Rock Music Festival has served as a portal into the autumn season.  I love observing the repurposing of property at the festival. Tire shops become rock venues, parking lots become dance halls, gas stations become garden bars.

Still a whole bunch of outdoor activities this weekend! Screenings, art festivals, food. Never a dull moment around here.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12

ArtNight Pasadena

The City of Pasadena is celebrating a full weekend of art events.  Tonight, enjoy a free city-wide evening of art, music and entertainment as Pasadena’s most prominent arts and cultural institutions swing open their doors.

Free

6 - 10pm

All over Pasadena

Free shuttles will loop throughout the evening with stops at each venue. Park at any one venue and ride to the others.  Visit the website for a venue map.

Unwanted: A Blacklight Poster Exhibit

As part of Nightmare City, its month-long festival of ghoulish cinema, Cinefamily is transforms its upstairs office into a temporary art gallery to showcase horror-themed blacklight posters. Check out the radiant popular artform once relegated to smoke-filled suburban basements. Comic artist Sammy Harkham does the curating. The opening night party features DJs picked by Mount Analog's Mahssa Taghinia and a cauldron of psychedelic programming from Cinefamily’s band of basement dwellers.

7:30pm

Cinefamily
611 North Fairfax Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036

The City Prolific: Weekend Events October 4 - 7

Last weekend was one of my favorite events of the year: the West Hollywood Book Fair. I scored two great reads, and sat around on the lawn of park, under a hot, hot sun.

There's finally been a break in the weather. It's no longer scorching, but it is still beautiful. Get out and enjoy it.

ALL WEEKEND

Culture Collide Festival

FILTER Magazine’s Culture Collide is a four-day international festival welcoming artists from 25 countries and counting, bringing their unique perspectives on music and culture to LA’s East Side for a musical melting pot of live performances, film screenings, and happy hours featuring food and drink from around the world. The festival will once again end with the Block Party, a free all-day event in Echo Park on Sunday, October 7th.

Wristbands $20

Thursday - Sunday

How to Love Los Angeles

Take the train to Union Station.

Yes, LA has a metro.  Ride it, take note of its uncanny timeliness (trains arrive on schedule to-the-minute). Observe the diversity of the ridership. Check out the neighborhood-centric art at the stations. Walk around Union Station, gawk and its beauty, and realize that there is both history and architecture in LA.

Bar-hop in Downtown LA.
Go to the dives like the Down and Out, Bar 107 and King Eddy's Saloon (John Fante drank there). Then, go to the swanky spots like Seven Grand, Varnish and The Edison.
Tip: Do this on a Wednesday or Thursday for maximum enjoyment, and minimum crowds. 

Get a steak and a martini at Musso and Frank.
Musso and Frank is not only in the heart of old Hollywood, but also embodies the heart of Hollywood. It's been there forever, and so have its waiters. Charlie Chaplin was a regular.
Tip: Take the train, wander the area. Do not drive into Hollywood. Seriously, don't do it.

See a movie at The Vista.
Screw the Arclight. The Vista is king.  It's an old-style movie theatre with a grand, gilded ceiling, red velvet curtains, and a gem of a manager.

Ride your bike from Santa Monica to Hermosa Beach and back.
You can rent bikes for $20/day at any of the major beaches. This activity will leave you dripping with gratitude for life and its wonders. I do not exaggerate. You'll see dolphins and surfers and the weirdos of Venice, and you'll feel like you're in paradise.  Because you are.

How to Love Los Angeles will be a monthly post.  I'll list five different things to do every month. Do these things and you're guaranteed to uncover LA's unique charm, and fall irreversibly in love with this city.  No looking back.

This list was for beginners - those new to LA, or those only here for a day or two. I'll get into things like art, culture, theatre and entertainment in later lists.