| This is why I came to Los Angeles |
[Dec. 21st, 2004|03:08 pm] |
Coming Sunday, January 9th
INSIDE THE AKBAR STUDIO with MINK STOLE presents
LINDA BLAIR
The legendary Linda Blair will appear in person with Mink Stole to discuss
her acting career and her Worldheart Animal Rights Foundation work. Includes
film clips and audience participation! Those who've attended our nights with
Karen Black and Julie Brown know how much fun these nights are! More details to
follow.
AKBAR is open Mon-Fri. 5pm-2am, Sat & Sun. 7pm-2am
AKBAR
a neighborhood oasis & dancebar
4356 Sunset Blvd. @ Fountain Ave. in Silver Lake
323-665-6810
NOTE: Extra parking available at Silver Lake Flowers, across the street at
the NE corner of Sunset & Fountain. |
|
|
| A wintry day in Pacoima |
[Nov. 23rd, 2004|03:36 pm] |
Have I mentioned that I love winter in Los Angeles? The moments of clear sky and unending views are incredible.
I usually judge the smog factor by how well I can see the buildings downtown from the top of my front stairs.
Usually, they're in some degree of haze. Sunday, after Saturday night's rain, downtown's buildings stood out as
if they were in a pop-up book. All the mountains all around were clear as could be. Hell had transformed into
heaven. What else would you expect, here in the land of extremes?
I recently had occasion to spend a couple of hours in Pacoima, with nothing important to do. A friend of mine
works there, and I was playing taxi. So, while I waited, I explored Pacoima, me and my camera. Lucky me! Pacoima,
like practically everywhere in L.A., has no shortage of interesting things to see. Pacoima is nestled in the
middle of the San Fernando Valley -- from what I gathered, it's mostly between I-5 and San Fernando Blvd.,
centered around Van Nuys Blvd. I don't really know the history of Pacoima, but many stories are all around, in
the murals, the signs, on the streets. I'll let the photos tell you about it.
( Pacoima photos, part one: murals and stuff ) |
|
|
| Eagle Rock mural in progress |
[Nov. 20th, 2004|01:32 pm] |
It's been harder for me to take pictures lately. Seems whenever I'm out and about with time to stop for photos, it's already getting dark! Here's an interesting mural I came upon this week at the edge of Eagle Rock, on San Fernando Blvd.
( clickity for 3 more ) |
|
|
| Los Angeles fashion! |
[Nov. 19th, 2004|10:02 pm] |
Not having a TV, I fancy myself a step removed from fashion brainwashing. But occasionally I encounter some personal fashion prejudice. I like my silly little style, and I don't dress like many of the people I see because, well, I don't want to. So perhaps you could say I have some sense of fashion, even if nobody else shares it.
After a lovely swim yesterday, my friend T and I stopped at a cafe in Silverlake. It was pretty warm out, so we sat out back. Next to us, two guys were hashing out details about the rental market -- one was a real estate agent looking very square in his suit and neatly trimmed plain-as-day hair, the other a homeowner artsy type guy in jeans and clogs, sporting the bed-head look. I was eavesdropping for a moment, but then I became greatly distracted by a woman sitting across from me. She was hiding the majority of herself behind a newspaper, but even the table couldn't hide her major fancy shoelace action. Wow!
I was able to slyly capture this photo to show you all the glory of this new shoelace fashion.( this one right here )
Occasionally she'd turn the page of the newspaper, revealing her long red hair and shimmery snakeskin shirt (yes children, I speak the truth). Ooo, it was exciting! But I couldn't get a photo of the shirt without seeming awfully rude. So you'll just have to use your imaginations.
That is all. |
|
|
| Ugh |
[Nov. 19th, 2004|12:44 pm] |
| [ | Current Mood |
| | Hack hack | ] |
It's so smoggy today that I can't even see downtown from 2 miles away. |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Nov. 4th, 2004|12:30 pm] |
My friend S totalled her van last week. The hit and run driver actually stopped to check the damage to his truck, then sped off. The good news is that he gave time for two witnesses to jot down his license plate number. Pretty much everything else was bad news. A tow truck appeared and offered to help. They told S she should tell the police that she had called the tow truck. Whatever, she thought. The cops came, took all the info, and the tow truck hauled the van away to place that specializes in collisions. Hmm. They declared the van totalled, and helped arrange for a salvage yard to buy the van for $100. M and I drove S and her partner T down to the collision place a couple days later, so S could transfer the title to the salvage place. When we got there, the collision place told S she had to pay them storage fees before the salvage place could take the van. A huge fight ensued between S and the collision place -- had she known she was going to be charged, she would have called AAA and had the van towed to her house to give her time to figure out what the best course of action was. While the collision guy had gone inside, the salvage guy was surprisingly frank with S about this premeditated scam the collision place had going, whereby they show up at accidents and offer to help, ending up charging what sometimes amounted to thousands of dollars in storage fees.
While S was fighting with the guy outside, we watched an old man from the salvage place who was in the passenger seat of the tow truck. He was odd somehow, and M was suspicious of him. Eventually he got back in the truck, at which point he dumped his fast-food wrappers out the window into the street. M just couldn't stand it. She hates litterbugs. "I dare you," I challenged. She went for it. Got out of the car, walked over to the tow truck, picked up the garbage and handed it to the man, saying "I think you dropped something." He was red-faced and apologetic. She came back to the car and howling laughter ensued. Meanwhile, S continued fighting with the other guys, wondering what in the hell we were doing.
S would not be had, and she was eventually able to leave there without paying. S is in her 40's, and a very recent immigrant. After she got back in the car she declared her victory: "These people think they know how to be corrupt. I'm from the third world! They can't rip ME off! I know their games better than they do!" Later, she started lamenting having sold the car for $100, wondering if in fact it was actually beyond repair. Ugh.
In an attempt to get her mind off the car, we took a little detour in search of interesting graffiti. S had never seen anything like it. Apparently she always takes the freeway. So we were able to have a little adventure, despite the sad loss of her van.
Here are some pics of the graffiti we found on Slauson Ave. ( Read more... ) |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Oct. 26th, 2004|06:59 pm] |
You can buy almost anything imaginable on the streets of LA. Wherever you go, there are people selling stuff on corners, from boxes, from the trunks of their cars, from trucks or vans, from shopping carts, from bicycle baskets and baby carriages. Fruit, vegetables, already-made food, food they make right there for you, toothpaste, CDs, books, groceries, household goods, toys, art, and on and on. Los Angeles itself is a giant farmers market/flea market. I noticed in Compton last weekend a fully-stocked step van that was like a travelling store. It looked like it was going from block to block, parking so people there could come go shopping. Reminded me of India, where we bought all our perishables from door-to-door sellers (except they were on foot). Nobody had a refrigerator, so every day we bought fresh produce and milk. It was all SO incredibly fresh! My girlfriend always made fresh yogurt and fresh green chile chutney (tiny hot green chiles, garlic, cilantro, and peanuts) that we'd eat with her fresh homemade chapatis and salt and ghee. It was the best food I ever ate in my life. But I digress...
My friends A and P visited from San Francisco last weekend. We wanted to go out to breakfast the day I was to give them a little tour of the LA I've come to know and love. I'd heard about the "Farmer's Market" in Hollywood, and that it was a good place to go for breakfast. So we decided to check it out. We parked the car in a huge lot, and walked around what was basically a mall. Maybe we were in the wrong place, we surmised. Eventually we found a kind of giant food court, sort of like the food court in Emeryville, only outdoors, bigger and more labyrinthine, and interspersed with little shops of all kinds including one small produce store. Not the Farmer's Market you might imagine if you were from just about anywhere else. I'm really not sure why it's called that.
But somehow it seems fitting that the streets of LA are more of a real farmer's market than the Hollywood Farmer's Market.
|
 We found this guy selling stuffies on Slauson Ave. |
( Find out where else we went, and see some photos... ) |
|
|
| LA jobs |
[Sep. 30th, 2004|11:46 am] |
I need some part-time work. I was surfing craigslist, and I noticed this:
The L.A. Casting Group at Los Angeles Center Studios is now gearing up for new productions happening in Oct. & Nov. We are looking for new faces to work as non union extras on our television and film projects, all types needed. 18 and over w/ two forms of ID
Please call to make an appointment to register! (213) 534-3892
For more information log on to: http://www.lacgroup.com
NO E-MAILS, YOU MUST CALL TO REGISTER IN PERSON.
"All types needed." Hey, they're talking about me!
Hmm, I am in Los Angeles, after all, I thought. What better than some extra money being an extra! It's, um, so L.A. Why not apply?
Anybody here done this? Have any stories for me? How about advice on what to wear to the interview? Should I work some kind of "look" or let them use their imaginations? The only looks I really have the clothes for are "butch dyke" and "butch leather dyke." Though I'm not too proud to put on a wig and a dress for some cash once in a while. |
|
|
| Art projects and asian supermarket super stores! |
[Sep. 28th, 2004|06:44 pm] |
Sorry I've been a bit absent from writing about L.A. lately. My free time has mostly been absorbed with a rather obsessive art project, which you can view some photos of here, if you want.
I've been wanting to do mosaic for a long time now. Back in Oakland I have a large collection of tiles I got free. I decided I couldn't wait for Oakland, so I might as well start now. M and I love doing art together, so it's easy to add such a project to our long list of fun adventures.
A large portion of my past week was spent accumulating the necessary mosaic supplies on my teeny tiny budget. I was excited to find a mosaic supply place in South El Monte that was going out of business and had everything VERY on sale. I hadn't heard of El Monte, much less South El Monte, but upon glancing at a map, I decided it wasn't far. So, the next morning, I convinced my friend T to go with me. She's had her nose in books for a while now, and has been in need of an adventure. Not knowing anything about El Monte, I was nonetheless pretty sure we could turn the trip into an adventure.
( Read all about it, complete with pictures! ) |
|
|
| White Davids and Santa Monica |
[Sep. 20th, 2004|07:13 pm] |
M's mom visited on Friday. Visitors are always a good excuse to go see something new (not that an excuse is needed, mind you, since this seems to be my mission). In this case, she wanted to go to Santa Monica pier. Neither M nor I had been there, so we got our sun screen and our camera, and set off to have an adventure.
Before I tell you about Santa Monica, I need to digress for a moment about a house we saw on the way. It was in Hancock Park. Saying we encountered it by accident would be a lie -- M actually encountered it a few days previous, while she was riding her bike home from UCLA. But she really really wanted me to see it, so I knew it had to be good. We clipped down Pico, and she had me turn down a side street. To my great surprise (shock? horror? amazement?), there was an entirely white house surrounded by white iron gates, with a white brick circular driveway in front, which was adorned, no, lined with twenty one white statues of David. And just to show off all that white, parked in the driveway was an SUV painted in that paint that changes color depending on the angle you look at it from. In this case, it was several shades of gorgeous fiery orange.
I want to know who lives in that house. Can anyone tell me? Anyone have a guess?
The coolest thing about Santa Monica beach is the Chess Park just before the pier. I love this idea! A place devoted to chess, with tables, benches and chessboards enough for 20 or more games, and with plenty of space for spectators. Plus, for extra camp factor, it's next to what used to be "Muscle Beach."
M and her mom were excited about the rides, and immediately ran for the carousel, then the ferris wheel. There were very few customers around. Most of the people on the pier either worked there, or were fishing. We guessed that the rides and games and stuff were more of a nighttime thing, like most carnivals. We walked the length of the pier, enjoying the breeze, watching people bait their hooks with mussels. It didn't appear that anyone was actually catching anything but seaweed.
I sat down on a bench to wait for M and her mom, and ended up chatting with a guy named Bob. He carried a police radio in his jacket, and said he was a retired firefighter. Got muscular dystrophy a few years ago. Now he lives downtown and rides his bike up to Santa Monica every day to hang out on the beach. He likes to pick up garbage, complain about pollution, and make friends. Sweet guy. We talked about the importance of being good to people.
M had to go in to UCLA for a little while, so her mom and I drove around Brentwood, just looking at stuff. In among the houses getting fancier and fancier, we found a little house whose front yard was decorated mostly with upturned glass bottles. I love people who resist conformity, even in their front yards. A lot of houses had big art. One had a giant bronze statue of a sprint runner. Maybe home to an olympic athlete? Or a wannabe?
Being at the coast, I was not about to leave without seeing the sunset. So we went back to Santa Monica and drove north, up through Pacific Palisades and around the edges of several gorgeous parks. It was a sad fact that it was Friday evening, and traffic everywhere was abysmal. So we parked at the beach and hung out watching the sun go down, the skaters and bikers speeding by on the beach path, and the helicopter going back and forth, seeming to be searching for a lost swimmer. The color of the sunset was, for a time, oddly reminiscent of the orange car in the driveway of Davids.
|
House of White Davids
Car at House of White Davids
|
( 11 more pics ) |
|
|
| Belmont Art Park |
[Sep. 19th, 2004|11:43 am] |
Last week my friend T and I drove past my favorite "vacant" lot on the way to the swimming pool. There were people organizing outside the lot, information tables, the mobile DJ I'd photographed at Sunset Junction was there, and all around were signs about saving the place from development. I wasn't surprised, given the evacuation and construction I'd noticed just up the hill. Sadly, T and I didn't have time to stop and check it out. But when M and I were going to the pool yesterday and she seemed excited at the prospect of taking the long way, I seized the opportunity to swing by the lot and see if anything was happening. We turned off Beverly onto the ramp that dunks down to 2nd St., and for the first time I saw the place entirely empty. It looked like there were new NO TRESSPASSING signs up, too. I feared we were too late, that this place of such inspiration and life had been sealed off in preparation for death.
|
 |
( Read more... ) |
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
| |
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
la_diary's journal
