Franklin Avenue

Next Time, We'll Just Pay for Admission
As Maria mentioned below, the LACMA invited all of Los Angeles to its all-night party last night.

And all of Los Angeles showed up. (Including this guy.)

It seemed like a good idea on paper: Keep the doors open all night, let people visit the art museum's two major exhibits for free, promote it as a party.

But maybe they promoted it too well, because when we arrived at 9:45 p.m. (the doors opened at 9), the line to get in already snaked around the block, down Wilshire, up to sixth and around the La Brea Tar Pits. Luckily, Maria found some old friends (including her first boss) near the corner of Wilshire and Curson.

Sweet! Well, kinda. Instead of waiting three and a half hours to get in, we only waited two and a half hours to finally make it to the front door (where we saw Darryl Hannah get in without having to wait -- hey, isn't there a statue of limitations on being famous?).

Once inside, we bought some beverages (shoulda been free after that ordeal) and did get to see the "Modigliani & the Artists of the Montparnasse" exhibit.

And indeed, modern artist Amedeo Modigliani's works are amazing, and well worth checking out in person. Plus, there was a cool communal vibe checking out the art with so many people at 1 in the morning.

Given the line outside, the LACMA was letting few people in at any one time. The grounds of the museum were surprisingly sparse, given the number of people in line. I suppose they were taking the "Cabaret LACMA" theme a little to literal, making people wait behind the velvet rope and earn their way inside. (Here's Maria overlooking the LACMA courtyard.)

We finally left at around 2 a.m., when we ran into Rita and Damon, who had just gotten inside after their own three hour wait in line. We gave them our leftover raffle tickets and slowly made it home.