Lotus-Free Festival

Here's how Echo Park looked in 2005, when Evan and I took in the annual Lotus Festival. It was the first big event I took him to -- he was 6 months at the time -- and I've taken him every year since. This year, he's probably going to ask me -- uh, Daddy, where are the flowers?

The Lotus Festival is coming up on July 11, 12 and 13. For the first time ever, though, it looks like there won't be any actual lotus plants in the pond as part of the festival. Here's how it's looking at Echo Park these days, via the Los Angeles Times' Ken Hively:



The LAT writes:

Some experts blame trash and debris for the demise of the lotus beds. Echo Park Lake is a storm drain catch basin in the winter, leading some to suspect that contaminants in the runoff may be the cause. The first sign of trouble came after the storms and floods of 2005-2006, after which the lotus blooms started appearing later, and smaller, than usual.

More info on the festival at the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks website. It's still a nice festival, even minus the Lotus plants... but it's definitely not the same.

Aspiring L.A.-Based David Cooks, Book Your SF Trip Now

"American Idol" announced its audition dates last week, and L.A. isn't among them. Angelenos looking to make it to Hollywood, dawg, will have to speed up the 5 on Thursday, July 17, as tryouts for next season will take place at San Francisco's Cow Palace.

Auditions are also set for Louisville, KY; Phoenix, AZ; Salt Lake City, UT; Kansas City, MO; Jacksonville, FL; East Rutherford, NJ; and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

I guess it's too late for me, as the show is looking for "men and women 16-28 years old as of July 15 who are eligible to work in the U.S."

Interestingly, they're not allowing people to camp out before hand; instead, wristbands will be distributed starting at 7 a.m. on Tuesday July 15, until 8 a.m. the morning of July 17. (So what's to stop folks from camping out before the 15th instead?) Good luck, and please, make an ass of yourself so you at least get some primetime broadcast TV time.

24-Hour Fitness Gets On the Wrong Side of B-Side

Ben -- better known as B-Side, one of the founders of TVgasm, recently blogged about his run-in with the folks at his gym -- or shall I say, former gym -- 24 Hour Fitness.

It's an epic tale that begins:

For years now, I've been splitting my time between two or three different 24 Hour Fitness gyms, and as such, I've had to pay an additional $5 per month to grant me access to all the clubs at my membership level. This means that every month, I'm supposed to get billed a certain amount for my membership and then the added fee for the all-club upgrade. Pretty standard stuff.

Well, late last week, I moseyed into the gym, and after having my ID scanned in, I proceeded forward to the gym floor.

"Wait!" called out the guy at the front desk. "You're only One-Club."

That was strange. I'd been All-Club for years and years. Why would I suddenly be downgraded to a lesser status? Clearly there had been a mistake.

"Clearly, there's been a mistake," I said. The guy looked back at his computer monitor, which had now been taken over by a big red screen to warn him of my alleged delinquency, and told me that no, I was not eligible to work out at this club.

From there, B-Side gets caught up in a tangled web of 24 Hour Fitness rules and misguided customer service. Needless to say, he's moved on. Read about it here.

Help Plan Our Trip

ROAD TRIP! Screw the $5/gallon gas, we're gonna hit the road this summer anyway. We're driving up the coast -- at least, until Monterey -- and then booking it to San Francisco.

It's suggestion time. Hearst Castle is on the itinerary, but what else should we do on the drive up? Where should we eat on the Central Coast?

And, of course, we're always open to new SF suggestions as well. Bring 'em on!

MIKE ON TV: Japanese-Inspired TV, Anyone?

OK, I'm posting this anyway, even though I'm not lovin' how I came off this time. Here's me on "Attack of the Show" talking about the rise in primetime series influenced by Japanese TV.

Movies Move to Koreatown

Despite its large population, Koreatown and Mid-City have been surprisingly short on movie theaters -- until now.

According to today's Variety -- with a dateline out of Seoul -- South Korea's largest multiplex chain is building a 648-seat, three-screen theater at "a site near Western Avenue." The details:

CJ Entertainment's CJ CGV chain set up CJ CGV America Holdings at the end of 2006 to run its exhibition business in the U.S. The theater was skedded to bow last year, but the opening got postponed.

"We're going to increase our competitive power with a small but high-qualified boutique theater," said Park Yong-gil, prexy of CJ CGV America Holdings.

The company said 45% of its pics would be Korean, 45% from Hollywood and 10% from Asia at large.

Still sounds like too small of a theater to me.

Retro Friday: The Empire Strikes Back on "Today"

In this 1980 clip from "Today," host Jane Pauley interviews Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford as "The Empire Strikes Back" is about to be released. At first, neither want to talk -- and there's an awkward dead silence. Later, Hamill explains George Lucas' plans to eventually shoot a series of prequels -- which we now know took a bit longer than expected to happen.

License Plate of the Day: Moe's Tavern Edition

This one comes courtesy Chris Nichols, who says he can't help but think of "The Simpsons'" Moe Szyslak. "Whaaaaa?"

Inflation Hits the Los Feliz 3

(Flickr pic by Santa Barbarian.)

A reader writes that the Los Feliz theater, long a cheap alternative to the megaplexes, has upped its box office price:

Just wanted to pass along that the Los Feliz 3 movie theater has quietly raised ticket prices and its no longer such a deal. adults are now $9 apiece!

Yikes! Considering how tiny those three screens are, that's pushing things.

Another 99 Cents Only Store Haul

I had heard about the mythical 99 Cents Only wine deals -- but had never seen it with my own eyes. Until Wednesday night.

We were in Bellflower -- yes, Bellflower. It's off the 105, near Norwalk. Look it up -- Wednesday night to visit our pals Anthony and Candice, who just gave birth to Baby No. 2. Across the street from the Kaiser Permanente sits a strip mall with the two beacons of close-out shopping: Big Lots and 99 Cents Only. We, of course, headed straight to the promised land.



And there it was -- a full shelf of a wide variety of wines. None of which sounded familiar, and most of which came from Australia.

What the hell, it's 99 cents. We're gonna experiment. We picked up a shiraz from South Africa (Matuba) and a sauvignon blanc from the California Central coast ("Thirsty Fish"). I can't find much info about either brand -- particularly the mysterious Thirsty Fish -- on the Internet. Hmm. Not a good sign.


Our candy intake was small this time, and all in the 59 cent range: Milka (which expires this week, by the way); a strange and pretty terrible (yes, I already tried it) 3 Musketeers-branded bar called "Generation Max"; "Monster Malts"; and a Vanilla Latte-flavored granola bar branded by Caribou Coffee.

The 3 Musketeers Generation Max bar was "Chocolate Strawberry Brownie" flavor -- pretty much an insult to chocolate, strawberries and brownies.


One of our favorite and hard-to-find items at the 99 Cents Only store: Ink jet printer ink. Talk about saving money. Too bad it's hard to find -- this is the absolute only one we located at the Bellflower location.


Nectarines!


This is one of those things that we tend to buy then never actually use or eat. "Hey, I love chai, let's buy this and drink chai tea more often."

Cut to three years later, when I rediscover this container collecting dust in the back of the pantry.


The Koala Brothers! Not well known here in the U.S., but Evan was a big fan at one point.

"Hancock": Plenty To See For L.A. Fans

Variety's Todd McCarthy was not a fan of the new Will Smith anti-superhero pic "Hancock," which releases next week. I caught a screening last night, and yes, there are plenty of plot holes that left me scratching my head. But I'm easier to please, and I came away at least having had some fun with the pic.

Story aside, there's something comforting and fun in seeing the interaction between Smith, Jason Bateman and Charlize Theron on screen. (It's always great seeing Bateman in anything.) The story -- a reluctant superhero who frequently does more harm than good -- is also an intriguing one, although, as McCarthy notes, perhaps they didn't take full advantage of it. I do like the movie's nod to modern society -- Bateman's character relies on YouTube, for example, to show Hancock some video footage of his follies.

Regardless, as a fan of Los Angeles, I of course too special interest in the film's expansive use of the city -- and Hancock's semi-destruction of some L.A. buildings and landmarks. The brand-spanking new CAA tower in Century City gets a hole torn in it, while a car is thrown on the Capitol Records building's spike.

There are also a few interesting continuity gaps: Hancock chases some bad guys down the 105 (remember when the freeway was shut down last year for the filming?), but suddenly the buildings around him are clearly downtown -- then suddenly he's in Hollywood.

Also, Bateman is seen drinking a Dunkin' Donuts coffee in his car at one point -- nice product placement for the DD, but not sure where the character found the cup, since there's not a DD store within 500 miles of us.

Other interesting tidbits: The climactic scene takes place at the futuristic, fictional "Mercy Hospital" -- actually downtown's CalTrans building. (That building seems to pop up in every Los Angeles shoot these days.) A big celebratory dinner is held at Cafe Pinot downtown. And fake newscasts are depicted via imaginary L.A. TV stations -- all with high, UHF channel positions like 15 or 17.

Charity Bake Sale: As If You Needed A Good Cause To Enjoy Some Sweets, But Here's One

L.A. blogger Tannaz fills us in on the second annual No Cookie Left Behind bake sale, which is part of Share Our Strength's Great American Bake Sale. She writes:

This year's offerings include banana caramel cake, homemade chocolate peanut butter cups, chocolate Guinness cake, cupcakes by the dozen, lemon bars, zucchini bread, sweet almond bread, a wild mushroom tart, many mini banana bread loaves, Spork Foods vegan cookies, Paulette macarons, Lark Cake Shop cakes, and much, much more.

What's even better, the event takes place at our beloved Scoops.

As you can see, it takes place this Saturday from noon to 4. Scoops is at 712 N. Heliotrope (off Melrose, next to L.A. City College).

License Plate of the Day: High on "Fidelty"

Was Fidelity Investments to thank for this Lamborghini? Is this a personal reward for being monogamous? Or is Nick Hornby in town, and "High Fidelity" paid for this car?

Your Favorite Summertime Haunts

Last week, as we launched the contest for tix to see Gilberto Gil and Devendra Banhart at the Hollywood Bowl, we asked you to tell us your favorite places to celebrate summer in L.A. Some answers:

Alexander: My favorite spot in LA is downtown LA. There are a lot of swimming pools on the rooftops and there's a bunch of bars and museums, and Little Radio has BBQs on Saturdays.

Cathy: My favorite summer places in LA are Evenings sitting on a bench up at the observatory with the breeze
looking at the lights in the Los Angeles basin. Daytime strolling around the Santa Monica pier especially during the
twilight dance concerts.

Jamie: One of my favorite summer afternoon things to do is to sit in the shade at the Trails Cafe, on Ferndell in Griffith park, and eat one of the yummy tomato tarts with a glass of lemonade... mmm, summery!

Mitch: The best place to spend the summer in L.A? Has to be the ice skating rink in Culver City. You wouldn't know it's summer...'til you walk outside.

Loren: El Matador State Beach in Malibu, more specifically one of the beach caves accessible at low tide but more challenging to reach once the swell increases.

Allison: My favorite place to spend the summer is at the Hollywood Bowl-duh!

Iko: Scoops!

Leslie: My favorite place to spend the summer in Los Angeles is Runyon Canyon in those early evening hours of sunlight. Perfect temperature and light for hiking without sweating up a storm.

Margaret: Mothers' Beach

Ivona: I am not sure does it count, since it is not a part of the LA per se, but more part of the LA region. I loooooove jumping on cat express, going to Two Harbors, and then do a hike to Shark Cove. Beautiful beach on the other side of the island, nice surfing, great diving, perfect chillin out area. And sunset, definitely one of the best ones in this area.

Don: So many places to be in the summer, but I'd have to pick hiking in the San Gabriels as my pick.

Bob: Self-Realization Lake Shrine.

We'll reveal the winner tomorrow!

Free Summer Concerts in Pasadena

Our friends Jess, Jeff and Baby Miles invited us out to Pasadena on Saturday to check out the day-long Make Music Pasadena festival. Not the best day for an outdoor event -- and even though quite a few well-known bands were performing (Division Day, Raveonettes, Kinky, Dengue Fever), with kids in tow we decided to keep it simple and head to the Levitt Pavilion for some jazz.



The music itself was just OK, but a nice shade covered most of the Levitt park -- and we came with picnic fixings, making for a nice evening.

Speaking of the Levitt, free performances continue from Wednesday through Sunday through the end of August. Children's entertainment takes place on Wednesdays, starting this week with the Bob Baker Marionettes. "American Music," featuring artists from John Doe to Royal Crown Revue to The Blasters, takes place on Thursdays; Fridays are devoted to world music (Jessica Fichot, Kusun Ensemble, Celtic Spring, etc.); Latin music on Saturdays (Quetzal, others); and Sundays are for jazz (Barbara Morrison, Ernie Andrews Quartet, Charles McPherson, etc.).

We saw the Bob Baker Marionettes here a few years ago, when Evan was 1 1/2, and it kinda freaked him out at the time. But we hope to hit the Levitt more often this summer. Can't beat free.

Scoops Cools Us Down

It was 100 degrees this weekend. It would have been a crime not to visit Scoops. So visit we did, and we wound up getting some of my most favorite Scoops flavors yet. Our selections:



Maria: Banana Macadamia Nuts and Black Sesame Coconut



Mike: Mango ricotta and Horchata



Evan: Almond tiramisu (yes, that's a "Kids' cone" -- they're quite generous with the scoops. And to make things easier on him, we told him it was chocolate.)

The Horchata is one of the best ice cream flavors I've ever tasted. Clearly we must make some at home.

Rendezvous at Union Station

It all started with a plain, Manila envelope, complete with old-fashioned, typewritten label. "What is this?" Maria asked, a tad concerned.



Inside, a letter from "Deputy Chief of Police W.H. Parker," dated June 1, 1949 and on City of Los Angeles stationery (Fletcher Bowron, mayor. Phone number MIchigan 5211.), suggested that we help apprehend a criminal at Union Station. An enclosed invitation from Southern Pacific Lines also invited us to the inauguration of their newest Pullman Club-Lounge car, the Overland Trail.



A third piece of information detailed the State Prison of Southern Michigan escapee: A Detroit farm laborer who looked suspiciously like historic preservationist -- and Los Angeles magazine associate editor -- Chris Nichols.

Of course, Chris emailed us a few days ago to get our address, so it didn't actually take us long to figure it out. But nonetheless, with an invite this cool and this elaborate, it called for a baby sitter. We were heading to Union Station -- yep, the scene of our wedding more than five years ago -- to help celebrate Chris' birthday.

We actually didn't finally commit to doing so until the day of the party. (Getting a sitter is such an ordeal, we hemmed and hawed until finally deciding we should.) As a result, we didn't have any time to find actual 1940s style wear, as the invite subtly suggested. I wound up wearing a suit, and Maria a nice dress, and I think we did OK.



Whatta well thought-out party. We parked at the MTA tower and walked behind Union Station and up a ramp, past the Mosaic apartments and the old Post Office building to find several old, lovingly restored Pullman cars. Turns out there are several private railcars parked near Union Station and available to be rented for events, including the Overland Trail.



Classic cars greeted us, and we were soon walking between parked Pullman train cars, and eventually found ourselves in line for...



... Philippe's dip sandwiches. Damn, I told you Chris thought of everything. As you may have read, I've been jonesing for a Philippe's lately -- so how perfect was this?



The Overland Trail was crowded with folk, mostly in the proper 1940s wear. Someone chastised me for using a digital camera -- not quite in the spirit of the era. But I saw plenty of people taking cell cam shots, so I was pretty discreet in comparison.



Highlights on the Overland included an actual barber cutting hair in the train's mini barber shop. Gotta wonder how many bloody nicks and scratches resulted from actual on-board train haircuts through the years.



Meanwhile, the other rental train car, the Tioga Pass, was once a sleeper car. Among the highlights:



Bunk beds! and



Shower!

Thanks to Chris for the invite. We had an awesome time, and even ran into a few familiar faces, including Eating L.A.'s (and oh yeah, Variety's) Pat Saperstein.

The Heat is On... At Our House

We came home Saturday evening to find our home baking at a sizzling 92 degrees. Seriously, eight degrees more and I'm not sure what our thermostat would have done, since it only has two spaces. Hot times!

George Carlin, R.I.P.

Check out an unrecognizable, young George Carlin (at age 29!) on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" in 1966.

Carlin, who anyone who's ever done radio has been impacted by (thanks to his notorious Filthy Words routine, which wound up serving as a guideline, thanks to F.C.C. v. Pacifica Foundation, of what not to say on the air), died Sunday in Santa Monica of heart failure. He was 71.

Father's Day at Philippe's

I've been hungry for a Philippes dip sandwich for what feels like months, but it's been a while since we've made our way to the legendary downtown eatery.

Then came Father's Day. Said Maria: "I know where you want to go!"

I was torn: Hungry for a dip, but I've never tried the almost-as-famous Philippe's breakfast. I decided I could still grab a sandwich, and decided to try the breakfast combo special.


Philippe's for breakfast

Two slices of french toast, dipped in their cinnamon egg batter. Eggs any way (for me, scrambled). Bacon or sausage (went with the sausage). Fresh squeezed OJ. And for five cents more, coffee.

Maria, meanwhile, was hungry for corned beef hash (plus eggs and biscuits), while Kid Formerly Known As Blogger Toddler was happy with a short stack of pancakes.


Our plates

The french toast was fantastic. Eggs and sausage, pretty pedestrian. Pancakes? Nice and fluffy. And Maria enjoyed her hash. On balance, decent.


Coffee and biscuits

What wasn't decent, of course, was the wait. As you know, Philippe's is counter service only -- and when the lines are long, you can wait and wait. And that's when they're making sandwiches. Imagine them filling hundreds of breakfast orders -- the wait was crazy. We stood in line for an hour. An hour. Very few things are worth an hour in line -- nope, not Pink's. And not Philippe's breakfast.

But to be fair, it was Father's Day. And I overheard one of the workers tell a customer, "Yeah, Father's Day is our busiest breakfast of the year. Mother's Day, this place is empty. Guess people like their fathers better!"

Hmm. I'm guessing people are spending a bit more than $6 -- plus a nickel for coffee -- on their moms.

That all said, I'll definitely be back for more french toast -- and those oh-so-fluffy pancakes. But next time, we'll get there early.


The crowd

Retro Friday: Hollywood Village People

Back one summer when my family was living in the Philippines, one of the Manila TV stations would play music videos every morning before signing on. Thing is, they were the same videos every single day. If I remember, the videos included "Suddenly," from Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richards, and "In the Navy" from the Village People. I still remember my sister and I marching around the house to this video when we were kids... hey, at the time, we really did assume it was just a song about the joys of the Navy.

I bring up the Village People because they're among this year's Hollywood Walk of Fame recipients. Also receiving stars: Ben Kingsley, Hugh Jackman, Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, Cameron Diaz, Robert owney Jr., Tim Burton, Leslie Caron, Charles Durning, Ralph Fiennes, William Petersen, Kyra Sedgwick, John Stamos, Mark Burnett, Chuck Lorre, Kenny "Baby Face" Edmonds, Dave Koz, The Miracles, Doug Morris, Rush, Shakira, Tinkerbell (!), KFI's Bill Handel and Harry Shearer, who's receiving his star for his KCRW show, not "The Simpsons" or "Spinal Tap." also provides voices for characters on "The Simpsons."

Thursday Odds and Ends

:: I find myself obsessed lately with this catchy tune from 2005, Nizlopi's "JCB Song." A big hit in the U.K., it never crossed over to this side of the pond, and I just discovered it on an import compilation I recently bought.

Of course, so much of why I like it has to do with being the dad of a 3 year old. Everytime I hear this song I want to go grab the Kid Formerly Known As Blogger Toddler and do something fun with him -- so it's a good thing.


(Photo: Gina Lee)

:: Since we're kind of on the father tip here, you may have already visited the blog Matt, Liz and Madeline. But in case you haven't, it's a heartbreaking yet superbly written ongoing journal of a local Yahoo! staffer who's chroncling his life as a new dad adjusting to a new world without his wife, who passed away the day after their daughter was born. Matt and Madeline appear to live close by (Atwater Village or Glassell Park, it seems) -- local faves like Swork coffee are frequently mentioned.



:: Now on to another topic entirely: Radio. Congrats to Mimi Chen, most recently a colleague at KCSN, for scoring a sweet new gig: A DJ post at the new 100.3 The Sound. Mimi's no stranger to the AAA format, having been a DJ at the late, lamented 101.9 KSCA "L.A.'s Finest Rock."

FREE L.A.: Free Coffee Day at Lamill

(Flickr pic by TraceyRose).

Los Angeles mag's Eat blog has the skinny (or is it venti?) on Lamill Coffee Boutique's Free Coffee Day on Tuesday, June 24.

That's right -- free coffee all day Tuesday at Lamill, which is celebrating six months in L.A.

More details:

"We are very grateful for the outpouring of support we have received from the Silver Lake neighborhood since we opened in January," owner Craig Min says, "and this is our way of saying 'thank you' to the community."
...
LAMILL will also be hosting a charity, Bikes to Rwanda, in support of the coffee growing communities in the country. Coffee production is the main crop grown in Rwanda, and it nearly ceased after 1994 due to a protracted civil war in the region. As production started up again a few years ago, growers were asked by visiting, grateful coffee purveyors what was needed most to help their communities recover, and the answer was "bicycles."
...
Other festivities on Free Coffee Day will include an opportunity to "Meet the Roasters," a special area where visitors will be able to meet with some of LAMILL's coffee roasters, taste samples and learn some of LAMILL's trade secrets that make it one of the top coffee roasters in the country. Also featured with be an area to "Talk About Tea," where guests can learn more about LAMILL's exclusive tea company, Sungarden Specialty Tea.

Free Coffee Day goes on all day on June 24, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Lamill is located at 1636 Silver Lake Blvd. in Silver Lake.

Rate-A-Restaurant #174: Bosco Cake Salon

Restaurant: Bosco Cake Salon

Location: 3465 E 6th St (Koreatown)

Type of restaurant: Dessert



They stipulated: It's more than cakes at Bosco -- don't be fooled by the name. You may even be better off getting patbingsu -- Korean-style shave ice.

We stipulated: We were meeting our friend Mika for dinner, and I suggested we finally try the L.A. outpost of Korean fried chicken joint BonChon Chicken. Afterward, walking down 6th for dessert, we wandered into the Chapman Market (blog post to come) and decided to try out Bosco.



What we ordered: The patbingsu Korean shave ice dessert -- which we all shared -- as well as a sweet potato cake and a raspberry heart-shaped cake.



High point: The spot is comfy -- nice furniture -- and the cakes were right on; the sweet potato cake was extra sweet potato-y. But the highlight had to be the patbingsu. The four of us (Evan was there too) devoured it.



Low point: The prices are out of whack here -- $4 for coffee? Maybe the late-night crowd won't bat an eye, but we were taken aback.



Overall impression: These fancy Korean dessert restaurants are popping up all over the place -- and how can I not like a trend that involves dessert. Much more formal than Paris Baguette -- which I like for the prices and the self service -- Bosco is still a great spot to linger, cake and coffee in front of you, in a comfy environment for hours. It wasn't too crowded on a Saturday night, and they weren't in a rush to shoo us out.



Chance we'll go back: If we're in the area and in the mood for dessert (albeit, pricey dessert), we may stop by -- especially to show off the Chapman Market to others. (Again, separate blog post coming.)

For a complete list of our more than 170 restaurant reviews, check out our companion Rate-A-Restaurant site.