Spot Check L.A. (Friday photo puzzle #6)

Where in Los Angeles do you see this mural?

So there I was at this historic L.A. landmark that was utterly overrun with visitors, from old to very young, on Wednesday, Nov. 11 — the middle of the week, but apparently a day off for many because of Veterans Day — when I looked up and saw this and thought — anybody who’s a true Angeleno ought to be able to place this mural, right?  Because it really is iconic and historic and it was recently restored as part of a $93 million overhaul of the — the — the answer to this puzzle, that’s what.   That dark round spot at the top of this photo may look like a flaw, but it’s a big hint if you’re trying to guess where this mural can be found.  So if you know where it is, please post your answer in the comments section, and be as specific as you can.   The winner gets his or her name posted next week, and all attendant bragging rights. 

No one guessed the location of the billboard in last week’s puzzle: I wasn’t surprised, because it’s on a tiny street called Washington Place, in Culver City right off Washington Boulevard, in the center of the well-traveled art gallery district.   While it may not be seen by many, you can’t forget it once you’ve seen it.  It’s so loony and retro, isn’t it?  I wish I knew the story behind it.

 

 

 

Spot Check L.A. (Friday photo puzzle #5)

Where in L.A. do you see this billboard?

Friday the 6th is here, and that means that next Friday is…..the 13th.  Watch out, people.  Based on the news, some dark states of mind are on a rampage out there. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a pill or powder to make us happy every day?  Whoever put up this billboard must’ve thought they had it bottled.  I don’t know anything about the story behind this billboard, but it exists, in all its lunatic, traffic-stopping glory, somewhere in L.A. between La Cienega and the sea (what some people call the Westside).  If you know where, post your answer in the comments section, and be as specific as you can.

And congratulations to Rob, who solved puzzle #4 in a flash:  He identified the beautiful blue babe as appearing on a mural located on the east side of La Brea Ave, on a gate next to 330 La Brea, to be exact.  Way to be specific, Rob!  And within 20 minutes of the puzzle going up!

Blue Hawaii

LA Explored has been in Hawaii for a spell, where the island waves and breezes quelled all industrious intentions, and an all-media sabbatical prevailed.  Aaaahhhh.  Given that Los Angeles is the closest big city to the 50^th state, is it fair to post a few vacation images?  I have always wished we were even closer, but as someone pointed out to me, it takes no more time to get there than driving to San Francisco, or to Mammoth (about five and a half hours).  We took Delta, which dings you $20 each way for each checked bag, but sort of makes up for it by providing personal entertainment systems, which rock. I caught up on movies I’ve missed – including The Soloist, which is a very L.A.-centric movie about the friendship between L.A. Times columnist Steve Lopez and a gifted, Julliard-trained but mentally fragile street musician, Nathaniel Ayers, who was homeless when they met. It stars Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx. I liked the movie because it was very realistic about the causes and challenges of homelessness, and while this made it less than a fairy tale, it also made it more worthwhile.  For comic relief I watched some of The Hangover, but we were landing before they even got to Vegas.

Not the boat I stayed on, but close to it.

 

We spent the whole time on Oahu, which was a treat because we had time to really explore it.  The weather was tropical – sometimes sweltering. For the first week, I lived on a sailboat in a marina in Honolulu.  It was on the airport side, and giant planes flew overhead regularly, which sounds like a minus but was actually kind of thrilling.  Waking up early to see the morning light on the water and having coffee on the deck was great – and the best part was when we actually took the boat out on the ocean, sailing past Waikiki and Diamond Head.

Our skipper reefs the mainsail.

 

The boat, a 42-foot ketch, is the full-time residence of my friend’s son Roman, who’s just starting his marine biology studies at the University of Hawaii and is already a DJ at the college radio station.  When he learned that I’m an entertainment journalist in L.A., he wanted to know if I’ve ever met Snoop Dogg.  I can’t say that I have.

 

When my husband was able to join us, we moved to a vacation rental near the beach in a little town called Waimanalo, which is on the windward side of the island, reached by taking an extremely scenic drive along the coast from Honolulu of about half an hour (you pass the big snorkeling bay, and the beach where From Here to Eternity was filmed).   Billy – known in the blog world as The 99 Cent Chef – was thrilled that the main street of this tiny town featured Keneke’s, a plate lunch stand that draws people from all over the island.  I was more impressed with the beach, a nearly deserted five-mile stretch of white powder and heavenly water, just a short walk down the lane from our house.   We swam and kayaked, and among other highlights, hiked Diamond Head (surprisingly strenuous, but with a dazzling payoff), hiked Manoa Falls (Jurassic Park-like), explored Chinatown (great tip: the happy hour at art gallery/scene bar thirtyninehotel, with artisan cocktails and live music on the sultry rooftop lanai), went to a Wailers concert (Bob Marley music) at the Waikiki Shell, learned about Hawaiian history and natural history at the fantastic Bishop Museum, and poked around on the North Shore, where we snorkled with the huge green sea turtles at Turtle Beach, ate from the shrimp trucks (I think Macky’s is the best) and sampled the shave ice at Matsumo’s grocery. 

The beach at Waimanalo.

Behind the counter with the shave ice guy at Matsumoto Grocery.

Out front, Matsumoto shave ice mecca on North Shore.

 

I wish I could go on reminiscing, but the real world waits

Hawaii Theater in Chinatown – Film Festival opening night.

Beach at Waimanalo, looking south.

impatiently.  Enjoy the pics!

Friday Photo Puzzle #4

Too bad about the Dodgers — and my baseball-themed photo puzzle of two weeks ago also bombed out, as no one even hazarded a guess.   For the record, that oversized baseball marks the entrance to the baseball stadium on the USC campus — formally known as Dedaux Field.   This week’s image is definitely located along a more heavily travelled path — so I know somebody will get this one.   Here goes.   Post your answer as a comment, and be as specific about the location as you can.

Spot Check L.A. (Friday photo puzzle #3)

Where in L.A. is this? Hint: campus.

Wow – between the Dodgers in the playoffs and the arrival  of G-D (Gustavo Dudamel, who made a splashy debut last night with the L.A. Phil at Walt Disney Concert Hall (broadcast live on FM 91.5, hope you got to hear it too!), it’s an exciting time to be an Angeleno.   This week’s puzzle pic was chosen in tribute to baseball fever – but it’s not located at Dodger Stadium.   I’m going to give a one-word hint:  campus.   I’ll be interested to see if anyone gets this.  If you know where it is, post your answer as a comment, and be as specific as possible.

As for last week’s puzzle, it was solved in a flash by Jeff, who located it at The Brig, a bar in Venice where it’s on the outside wall, and then again by runner-up Billy Mernit, who noted that it’s visible on Abbot Kinney Boulevard as you drive toward the beach. This distinctive mural went up in 1973, and has been repainted three times since.  Luckily I was able to locate the artist, well-known Southern California muralist Art Mortimer, who gives us the full scoop via e-mail:

Mural at The Brig, Venice, on Abbot Kinney Blvd.

“The two people in the mural are Babe and Betty Brandelli. When the mural was painted (1973), the place was called “Brandelli’s Brig.” Babe and Betty were the proprietors. Babe had been a Golden Gloves boxer in Venice in the ’30s, and the place was full of memorabilia of his boxing days. I’ve been told by the present owner that originally the place was built with a bar downstairs and a dance hall upstairs. When Babe took it over, he and Betty lived upstairs and there was no more dance hall.”

Background detail: Mortimer paints mural within mural.

Art continues: “And yes, that’s me in the background, over Babe’s shoulder, painting the mural. My original concept was to create a monument to the process of painting a mural. But when I found the site and met Babe and Betty, I just HAD to put them in the mural– and the “painting” concept got pushed into the background. I was going to put a mural inside the mural inside the mural, but L.A. County Parks and Recreation (the mural’s sponsors) wanted their scaffolding back to loan to another artist for another mural. I don’t think there’s a name for that picture-within-a-picture sort of image.”

How interesting is that?  Thanks so much, Art, for the mural and the history.

Puzzle #2 Location Scout winner:  Jeff.   Runner-up:  Billy Mernit.  Thanks for playing, and please play again!

Expo Rail Line Watch: Bridge O’er La Brea

Expo Line bridge across La Brea, southbound toward the airport

For months now, construction workers have built the massive framework of the Expo Rail Line closer and closer to La Brea Avenue.   When a sign went up last week saying La Brea would be closed from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. through Oct. 9, I knew they were about to build the bridge right over the road.   And it’s happened! As of Sunday morning, the rough framework is now halfway across — spanning the southbound lanes, but not yet the northbound. 

La Brea northbound, with Expo rail bridge poised to cross

The Expo line, an above ground light rail line with elevated crossings at La Brea and La Cienega, was slated to open in summer 2010, less than a year from now, but the latest word is that the opening may be delayed until late in 2011.  The 8.6-mile rail line, budgeted at $862 million, will run from Culver City to the 7th and Metro station downtown, connecting to the Red Line into Hollywood and all the rest of the subway and rail system.

La Brea southbound, from directly under the beams of the Expo Rail line

It’s a huge project, and it seems like a significant milestone to me that from now on, everyone taking La Brea to the airport will pass underneath it.  I’ll post again as it progresses.  For now, here’s a link to video posted by the MTA showing a very cool simulation of the way this system is project to look once it’s up and running.

Spot Check L.A. (Friday photo puzzle #2)

L.A. Explored had a great first week, thanks to support from friends and colleagues and a generous write-up in L.A. Observed on Sept. 30 by uber-blogger Kevin Roderick.   The winner of last Friday’s photo puzzle is Harry Chandler, who correctly located the image as part of the brightly painted outside wall of  Loteria at the Farmer’s Market,  where it’s visible to anyone who lunches at the communal patio tables at the historic outdoor gathering spot (corner of 3rd and Fairfax).  A close runner-up is actor and comic Pete Handelman, who minutes after the post went up guessed “Loteria?”  But there are two locations of this gourmet taqueria in L.A., so Harry wins this time.   Specifics, people.  It’s all about location.  Thanks very much for playing, and here’s this week’s puzzle:

Ever noticed this? If so, where in L.A. is it?

To play, post your answer as a comment.  The most specific correct answer wins. 

Puzzle #1 Location Scout winner:  Harry Chandler.  Runner-up: Pete Handelman.

Meet the Chandlers

This Monday, Oct. 5 from 9-11 p.m., PBS airs a new documentary, Inventing L.A.: The Chandlers and Their Times.  I caught the world premiere in January at the Santa Barbara Film Festival, so I can report in advance that  it’s really good –a fascinating, unsentimental portrait of our home-grown media dynasty and a newspaper era that’s fast fading to history.  A lot of former L.A. Times employees were in that audience, not suprisingly.  Anyone interested in L.A. and its media will want to catch it.

Otis Chandler family, early 1960s

Filmmaker Peter Jones, who won acclaim doing profiles for A&E’s Biography series, covers four generations of the Chandler family from Harrison Gray Otis, founding publisher of The Los Angeles Times, through succeeding publishers Harry Chandler (who reputedly inspired the villain in Chinatown), Norman Chandler and finally, Otis Chandler, shown above with wife Missy and their five children.   Otis makes a fascinating character, and despite his  hale and hearty physique, was a serious newsman who elevated the paper’s standards considerably. The youth in the center of the photo is Harry Chandler, a former exec at the Times and other media companies who aided the filmmakers with photographs and letters, and who’s interviewed in the film, as are Missy, Bettina (Otis’ second wife and widow), Catherine Mulholland, Kevin Starr, Mike Davis, and many others who lend a unique perspective.  The younger Harry Chandler, who certainly has a personal stake in the history, had this to say in an email he sent out this week: ”In the end, I found it a moving and powerful documentary that is quite accurate and very watchable.”  

The photograph above, originally taken by Alex Spear, is reproduced from the end materials in Harry Chandler’s Dreamers In Dream City, a recently published collection of profiles and inventive photo-portraits of influential figures in L.A. history and current affairs.   Coincidentally, the 55 photos in that book (all either taken by Chandler or enhanced by him with techniques such as digital backgrounds and hand-coloring) are getting a full-on museum exhibit now through Jan. 3 at the Autry National Center (the Gene Autry Museum of the West, out near the L.A. Zoo).   Congrats, Harry! 

And last but not least, Angel City Press, which published Harry’s book, has also published a companion book to the Chandler documentary, written by Bill Boyarsky, a Pulitzer Prize-winner and 30-year veteran of the Los Angeles Times.   Autographed copies are available for $24.95 here.

(Disclosure: although I worked on the Dreamers book as a contributing editor, I have no interest other than a rooting one in the projects described above.   I just think you’ll find them interesting!).

Saturday Night at the Majestic Crest

We all love movie theaters, but there are some we love more than others.   In particular, I love the Majestic Crest in Westwood, where Saturday evening Billy and I went to see Inglorious Basterds. 

 The Crest has terrific neon, and it’s a stand-alone, independently owned theater that sits slightly apart from the Westwood Village hubbub, on Westwood Boulevard but on the south side of Wilshire.

 Its original owner when it was constructed in 1941 was Frances Seymour Fonda, the mother of Jane and Peter (I’m following Jane on Twitter, and she has a blog, too).  It has the most wonderful mural inside showing all the buildings that formed the skyline of central Hollywood in the ‘40s, with Art Deco details that pop out in tiers. 

Cyclorama inside theater

The ‘neon’ on the buildings glows when the lights go down, and the ceiling  fills with stars (it’s a celestially accurate star map, I’m told).   There’s a brief ‘curtain show’ while the music for That’s Entertainment plays, whetting your appetite for the feature.  The red plush seats are very comfortable, and there are no annoying commercials – just a preview or two.  Doesn’t that sound great?  Movie-going the way it’s meant to be!

 An actual movie-loving individual owns this theater – his name is Robert Bucksbaum and he bought it with his life savings (he’d done well in another business) in 2003, and often works the ticket booth and concessions along with his staff.  When a movie has a really great weekend at The Crest, he says, that gives him more clout with distributors and a better shot at booking more of the movies you want to see.  Cool, huh?   So come on out and support an old-style  neighborhood theater.  And the movie?  Outstanding. But you’ve heard that by now.  Here’s a review I agree with.

Spot Check L.A. (the Friday photo puzzle)

Here’s how it works:  Each Friday at around noon, I’ll post a photo taken somewhere in L.A.  If you recognize it, post a comment that identifies it.   The first one to get it right wins.  If more than one person gets it right, then the person who is most specific wins.  So if you I.D. a photo as “Culver City” and someone else I.D.s it as “Rivers Of The World mural, Ballona Creek Bike Path, Culver City” then I guess we know who wins.  If you win, you’re designated a “Location Scout” (which means you keep your eyes open); and your name is posted as the winner with next week’s puzzle.  Have at it, locals!

Where in L.A. do you see this?