Scenes from Atwater Village's Halloween Boo-levard

One of our favorite Halloween traditions? Atwater Village's annual "Trick or Treat on the Boo-levard" Fall Festival. Atwater Village businesses up and down Glendale Boulevard get into the spirit, as dressed-up tykes practice their trick or treat skills for the main event a few days later. (Actually, I'd argue the kids probably get more of a candy haul from this event than from Halloween night.)

Some scenes from Friday afternoon:





Toddlers get their treats.



Another business handing out candy.



Of all the businesses in Atwater Village, shouldn't the coffin store be a big Halloween festival participant? But sadly, they were closed.



Canine participant.



Cookie Monster and Elmo.



Not Halloween-related, but spotted a Jacknife Records and Tapes. I want this "WKRP"-branded turntable. Wow.

Retro Friday: "Teen Talk," Circa Early 1980s, Tackles Punk Rock

An episode of early 1980s L.A. kid-centric talk show "Teen Talk." Watch as a bunch of kids explain punk rock to the older host, who asks about The Cramps ("what's that?") X and John Doe. It's cheesy, and yet doesn't sensationalize punk.

From the YouTube post: "Not an SCTV skit, Joe Feinstein was a well liked teacher at Grant High School in the San Fernando Valley. Teen Talk was an early morning show that attempted to cover issues that concerned teens. Unintentionally amusing, this show is on Punk and any other new music at the time."

Part 2:



Part 3:

License Plate of the Day: Personals Edition

What is this, your car's license plate doubling as a personals ad? OK, 6'5" XXL guy, we get it. You're a catch. Good luck with that.

Westside Pavilion Barnes & Noble To Shut Down

(Flickr pic by mirtai.)

This was a shocker. As LA Observed reports, the popular (and usually pretty busy) Barnes & Noble at the Westside Pavilion is shutting down. That will leave no major commercial book store between Santa Monica and The Grove. That's stunning news for westsiders -- and even UCLA students who ventured down Westwood to hang out there. LA Observed writes:

Quiet talk has been around for a few weeks, but now red clearance sale signs have gone up — 30 percent off on a lot of books — and store clerks acknowledged today that they have been given the word. The multi-story Barnes & Noble at Pico and Westwood boulevards will close around the end of the year. Word on the street is that the H&M store in Westside Pavilion will expand into the higher-profile corner location. There's no official confirmation from the mall or from Barnes & Noble.

Reaction on Twitter was swift and surprised. Writes Joni Yung: "what??!?!" Terry McCarty adds: "Damn. So the definition of the Westside brick-and-mortar bookstore has changed to mostly used booksellers."

Nine Years Later

And still going strong! Here we are on Oct. 26, 2002, at Union Station's old Fred Harvey room. (Coincidentally, we're heading there tomorrow night for a TV show launch party.)

Beverly Hills: We Are The 1%

Spotted on Olympic Blvd.: Street art that takes affluent Beverly Hills to task for being home to many of the nation's richest 1 percent. Actually, I wonder if Brandon and Brenda's parents would have qualified; the 1% is quite an exclusive club.

L.A. Ad Town, one in a series

A few screen grabs from one of the latest Hyundai commercials. Above, driving through downtown Los Angeles (at the Broadway intersection).



A giant genie hangs out at the iconic Jack Colker's 76 gas station in Beverly Hills (designed by William Pereira).



On one of the downtown bridges over the Los Angeles River.

An L.A. Love Bazaar

For someone who loves L.A. and Southern California history, The 6th-Annual Los Angeles Archives Bazaar, sponsored by LA as Subject, was the perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

The free event took place at USC's Doheny Library. I brought along the Blogger Toddler 2.0, and lucked out: He fell asleep on the drive to USC, and snoozed in the stroller as I looked at the various booths.

Some details on this year's event:

The Archives Bazaar draws its strength from the breadth and variety of its participants’ collections. Large institutions such as the Autry National Center of the American West and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County will be represented at the bazaar along with smaller organizations and private collections whose materials fill the gaps left in the city’s official history. Other participating organizations include the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives, the California African American Museum, El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument, and the Japanese American National Museum. In all, more than 80 archives are represented.

Some pics:

Peanuts' Lucy and Her Magazine of Choice

From "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," which re-airs this Thursday at 8 pm on ABC: Lucy, reading a large-sized TV Guide (minus the famous logo, however)!

Retro Friday: LAX Circa 1970

LAX, the most exciting airport in the world? You sure can't say that now. But in 1970, when this promotional film was shot, you could make a case. Enjoy.

Rate-A-Restaurant #259: 'Wichcraft

Restaurant: 'wichcraft

Location: Inside MGM Grand Hotel (Las Vegas)

Type of restaurant: Sandwiches

We stipulated: Before driving back to Los Angeles from Las Vegas, we picked up a few sandwiches to go for the drive home.

They stipulated: "Tom Colicchio's 'wichcraft combines the Craft ethic of great ingredients and careful execution with the ease and accessibilty of a sandwich - or as co-founder Sisha Ortuzar describes it, "it's Craft between two pieces of bread!"



What we ordered: Pressed sandwich: chicken breast, roasted red pepper, mozzarella & pesto, country bread; warm sandwich: meatloaf, cheddar, bacon & tomato relish, ciabatta



High point: Decent sandwiches, good bread and a lot of flavor.

Low point: I'm guessing these sandwiches come loaded with a hefty calorie count. I know they come loaded with a hefty price tag.

Overall impression: Good sandwiches, and even though they were a little messy to eat while driving home, they filled our bellies when we needed them the most.

Chance we'll go back:  We might the next time we're in Las Vegas. Still a better option (and despite what I wrote above, more economical) than most places on the Strip.

For a complete list of our more than 250 restaurant reviews, check out Franklin Avenue's companion Rate-A-Restaurant site.

The Great Los Angeles Walk 2011 Heads to Hollywood

WE'RE GOING TO HOLLYWOOD, BABY!

For the Great Los Angeles Walk 2011, we're going to trek through the neighborhood that symbolizes L.A.'s most famous export -- Hollywood. Think Musso & Frank's; Grauman's Egyptian and Chinese Theatres; the Walk of Fame; the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel; Capitol Records Building; the Pantages; Hollywood and Vine; and much more.

Participants will meet downtown at City Hall (facing Temple St.) at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 19, and proceed to walk the approximately 19-mile journey to the Pacific Ocean.

We'll pass through a diverse cross-section of the region, including Downtown Los Angeles, Echo Park, Los Feliz, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Westwood and Santa Monica.

As you know by now, I launched the Great Los Angeles Walk in 2006 as a way to celebrate my tenth year in Los Angeles. That year, inspired by the book "Wilshire Boulevard: Grand Concourse of Los Angeles," we walked Wilshire. In 2007, for an encore, we hiked down Pico Boulevard. The 2008 Walk took on Santa Monica Blvd. (via Sunset). And in 2009, the event kicked off in the historic West Adams district and walked to Venice Beach via Adams and Washington. For its fifth edition in 2010, the Great Los Angeles Walk returned to Wilshire.

This year, we toyed with several routes, including Ventura Boulevard in the Valley. But I heard from many of you that the downtown-to-the-ocean tradition needed to be upheld. And I agree: There's something about making it to the Pacific around 5 p.m. that adds to a sense of accomplishment. We'll hit Ventura Boulevard one of these years... but for now, we decided that there was still plenty of ground to cover on this side of the hill -- including historic Hollywood.

In case you're new to what we do, here's the rundown: We walk just to walk. No money, no agenda. The Great Los Angeles Walk is a completely free event; as a matter of fact, it operates without any budget whatsoever. Participants handle their own meals along the way, via local businesses and food trucks.

The Great Los Angeles Walk is a fantastic way to see your city up close and personal. Plus, it's a fun way to burn a few calories before gorging on Thanksgiving the following week.

Keep checking out www.greatlawalk.comfor details, and make sure you're on our email list by dropping a line to greatlawalk@mail.com. More info, including T-shirts, to come. ALSO, if you're interested in sponsoring a rest stop for walkers, or if you're a restaurant in Hollywood or Santa Monica willing to house our lunch and afterparty (don't worry, everyone's paying on their own dime), let us know!

Here's the tentative route -- subject to change:


View Larger Map

Korean Fried Chicken Trend Wanes? BonChon Exits Los Angeles

During the Great Korean Fried Chicken Wars of 2008, we put our support firmly behind Bonchon. (Read our review of rival KyoChon here.

BonChon chicken was meatier, more flavorful and a better deal. But our interest in the Korean Fried Chicken trend eventually waned, and now it looks like BonChon has left Los Angeles entirely. In its place at the Koreatown corner of 6th and Catalina: The renamed "Drunken Chicken." The guy on the phone at "Drunken Chicken" promised us the same menu and cook as the old BonChon... but somehow it doesn't seem the same (and doesn't seem nearly as kid-friendly).

KyoChon still operates locations including one in Koreatown and another at the Glendale Galleria... but honestly, I'm still not as impressed.

So Wait, Can I Park Here?

Spotted in Century City: Just don't even try to park here.

The Real Deal at Raw Materials

While walking around Downtown a few weeks ago, we finally stopped by Raw Materials to say "hi" to Jim and Celia, bona fide Friends of Franklin Avenue. Their art supply store, located on Main, offers a wide variety of goods while also handling printing and custom framing.

Raw Materials also offers up regular classes, such as "Creating a Comic #1: Introduction to the Art of Comic Books" and "Intro to Gels and Mediums," both of which were held in September.

The other perk of a Raw Materials visit? Store mascot Won Ton. More pics below:




Craby Joe's -- sign was saved from the legendary downtown dive bar, and Raw Materials gave it a home.


Art Is Rad!




Won Ton keeps guard.

Raw Materials
436 South Main Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
phone (213) 627-7223
info@rawmaterialsLA.com

Monday – Friday: 11am – 7pm
Saturday: 11am – 6pm
Sunday: noon - 5pm

Los Angeles Ad Town, one in a series

Don't let the name of the building on the right fool you -- it's actually the SB Manhattan loft in downtown Los Angeles.



And yes, if you've been anywhere around the Historic Core, you've seen these murals on streets such as Spring.



An army of bicylists pass by the all-new VW Beetle in downtown.

Retro Friday: We're All In The Same Gang Edition

Remember the anti-gang hip-hop collaborations of the late 80s/early 90s? Here, the "West Coast All-Stars" remind you that, hey, "We're All in the Same Gang"! Among the artists: King Tee, Body & Soul, Def Jef, Michel'le, Tone-Loc, Above The Law, Ice-T, Dr. Dre & MC Ren, Young MC, Digital Underground, MC Hammer and Eazy-E.

More From the LA River Bike Path

It's become one of my favorite weekend activities: Biking along the newly expanded LA River Bike Path with the Blogger Kid. I posted about a previous bike ride along the path; now here are pics from another visit.

Here's The Situation: I Won't Be Buying This Costume For Halloween

Spotted at Target: The officially licensed "Jersey Shore" SITUATION Halloween costume. Yes, you too can contribute to the wild financial riches that "Jersey Shore" and its cast members have reaped -- all while pretending to be a ripped, gym/tan/laundry juice head on Halloween!

To be fair, however, this would truly be the only way I ever developed abs like Situation's. But while you're picking up that Situation costume, don't forget to also buy some ointment for the rash that inevitably develops!

Clifton's Finally Removes Its Facade, Revealing Its Original Look

Wow: While walking down 7th on Sunday for CicLAvia, I noticed that the original facade to Downtown's Clifton's Cafeteria is starting to poke though. As part of Clifton's major renovation (which has forced its closure for several months), it appears that the new owner is removing the siding that covered up Clifton's original facade way back in 1963.

Here's how the facade originally looked after Clifton's Brookdale (as it was then called) opened in 1935:



And here it was on Sunday:



That pic of Clifton's original facade comes from the Los Angeles Conservancy website. Here's what else they have to say about the cafeteria's design:

(Founder Clifford) Clinton retained the noted architecture firm of Plummer, Wurdeman, and Becket, who designed the iconic Pan-Pacific Auditorium that same year. They redesigned the building’s entire façade, with the lower portion evoking a rustic lodge, and turned the interior into the mountain setting that has greeted Clifton’s patrons for generations.

At the entrance on Broadway, the firm designed one of the region’s most intricate terrazzo sidewalks. The artwork spans the length of the building and depicts local landmarks, destinations, and industries.

The current exterior dates from 1963, when the entrance was recessed and adorned with turquoise and red mosaic glass tile. The remodel also added the expansive entrance canopy, neon blade sign, and aluminum grille.

Taking Stock of Occupy LA at City Hall

While participating in CicLAvia on Sunday, the Blogger Toddler 2.0 and I also ventured to the City Hall lawn to see how Occupy LA, now in its second week, is doing. An offshoot of the Occupy Wall Street movement, the L.A. movement seems to have picked up steam in recent days. CicLAvia conveniently helped as well and likely helped recruit a few more regulars.

Some pics: