Magpies Ice Cream Pie: A Welcome Birthday Treat

My apologies to cake, but I think birthdays have a new winner: The softserve ice cream cakes at Magpies. We managed to get 13 slices out of this one, for Maria's birthday. For $35, it's the Fried Softserve Pie - Corn Almond Softserve layered with vegan fudge, honeycomb, topped with non-dairy whipped cream and fried candied cornflake.

Delicious. And somewhat decadent. But hey, worth the quarantine calories. As other birthdays come up, I'm excited to try other flavors, such as the ube. Stay tuned!

The Spicy Bonanza

Thanks to my pal Diane Gordon for putting together the spiciest of all food baskets for my birthday!

Best Birthday Gift Ever? A Cat Was Drawn For Me

Definitely one of the most unique birthday gifts I've ever received... my sister Ann recently asked the famed cat drawing entrepreneur Steve Gadlin to, yes, draw a cat for me. On his website, where Gadlin posts every cat creation he draws, he describes mine: "Ann Marie GIFTED a cat to Mike! She wanted a writer cat who lives in LA. He wears T-shirts with suit jackets and jeans, and loves to walk in the city."

Gadlin is behind I Want to Draw a Cat For You, which earned global attention after he went on ABC's Shark Tank -- and convinced Mark Cuban to invest and take a chunk of the company.

Here's what Venture Beat wrote in 2012:

“I wanted to create an experiment where I could do all the things people who create businesses do, and do it with just a widget,” Gadlin told VentureBeat. Initially, in early 2011, the site consisted of exactly two things: an embedded YouTube video, and a PayPal button. Clients watched the video, ordered a cat drawing, and paid $1o. Then Gadlin drew it on paper and snail-mailed it to each customer. Just about the very definition of small-time.

Here was his initial video:



And here's his visit on "Shark Tank:



That song will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.

Happy Birthday, Los Angeles

Happy Birthday, El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula! You're 231 today!

Two interesting stories to read on L.A.'s birthday:

Happy Birthday, Los Angeles! But is the Story of the City's Founding a Myth? (KCET)

On Los Angeles' 231st birthday, a search for its oldest building (Los Angeles Times)

Happy 230th, Los Angeles!

(Pic via Meet The World in Progressland.)

It's been 230 years since El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora de la Reina de los Angeles del Rio Porciuncula was first founded on Sept. 4, 1781. Of course, for its first 100 years of existence, Los Angeles was little more than a dusty village. But the second 100 years were astounding, as L.A. grew into the country's second-largest metropolis. And the last 30 years? Well, they've been pretty eventful as well.

The Militant Angeleno takes a trip down memory lane to Los Angeles' 1981 bicentennial celebration, and how much the city has changed since then:

Much more today than 30 years ago, we are more atune into our communities, into identifying them. Back then, you were either from "LA" or "The Valley" or "Orange County" or elsewhere. Back then, there were only two area codes most people need be concerned with: 213 and 714. 714 was Orange County, of course (though it was also 213 until 1951). 213 was everything else.

If you were to enter a time machine or wormhole and visited 1981, certainly you'd be deemed mentally insane if you boasted about riding on subways or bicycles around town, eating fusion food out of food trucks that you'd follow using your mobile phone. Or the fact that you went to Downtown for a party, a gallery opening, sporting event, or - gasp - to go home.

And when those 1981ers asked you about how L.A.'s football teams were doing... you could only sigh.

Help a Franklin Avenue Reader Out: Birthday Advice

A reader writes in, looking for retro-themed birthday ideas:

So last year my friend had the best birthday party. We went prom dress bowling. It was awesome, and I loved it.

This year for my birthday I want to do something just as quirky and fun. I'm pretty sure I'd like to make it retro themed, specifically 30's - 40's, but the only 3 things I could come up with were ice skating (the music wouldn't match and it would ruin the mood for me), swing dancing (but my friend pointed out I'm the only one who really knows how, and it would be super hard for the guys to just pick up), and going to Cafe 50's (nothing wrong with that, just kinda boring).

So I guess my question is: what kind of retro themed fun stuff would be going on the evening of Friday, October 1st in the Los Angeles Area? I don't really just want to go to a concert, either. The more unusual, the better! Also,hopefully no more than $10 cover charge. For reference, I adore the Cicada Club, so anything like that is up my alley. Any ideas, particularly with people in the rockabilly/ pin up/ swing dance community would be fabulous! thanks!

Given her price restrictions, that seems to limit things. I would suggest perhaps the Museum of Neon Art's neon cruise -- which includes free-flowing booze, after all. But it's on Saturday, Oct. 2, so she'd have to move it a day. Perhaps an evening at downtown's Crocker Club, Redwood Bar or P.E. Cole's? Tiki Ti or downtown's new Trader Vic's? But that might not be exciting enough. Perhaps she should check to see what's happening in Chinatown that night.

Add your suggestions below, and help a fellow Franklin Avenue reader out!

A Century Well-Lived

My colleague Jon Weisman has a great post over at Dodger Thoughts, commemorating his grandmother's 100th birthday.

Yep -- you read that right. 100. Imagine the advances she saw in her lifetime. The TV networks didn't even begin regular programming until 1948, when she was 38 -- 38! (Yes, everything relates back to TV for me. Sorry.) And yet she's still here to witness the birth of modern items like the iPad.

Jon writes about her colorful life:

My favorite story about her is from her New York/Lower East Side childhood, when in between ice skating and baseball and football with her friends of both genders, this little Jewish girl was dressed as if she were being driven to church, all so that he could be a decoy for liquor to be smuggled undetected during Prohibition. Married and moving to Chicago at age 20, her next decade brought her a husband, Aaron, who found work during the Depression working as an accountant for Ralph Capone, Al's brother – years living in terror underscored by Aaron's uncle Sol being "taken for a ride" and never returning.

Plenty more about his Grandma Sue over at Dodger Thoughts.

Los Angeles Forgets Its Own Birthday

Every year around the anniversary of Los Angeles' Sept. 4, 1781, founding, a group of die-hard Angelenos and descendants of the city's original residents reenact the nine-mile hike that L.A.'s 44 pobladores (settlers) took from the San Gabriel Mission to El Rio de Nuestra Señora La Reina de Los Angeles de Porciúncula.

Here we were, all set to finally take part in the Los Pobladores Walk this year. But it was too late to register by mail, so I took the advice of the flyer and checked out L.A.'s 227th anniversary birthday page at www.lacity.org/227. Nothing.

No one bothered to upload the page, despite the city referencing it in its brochure. Strangely, the city's 226th birthday website -- www.lacity.org/226 -- is still up there.

I hope they get their act together by 2009... or at least I get my act together and mail in a form.

POSTSCRIPT: I can't be too laudatory about last year's 226th birthday site. Check out how the city spells its own name:



Yep, "City of Angles." Go L.A.!

The CW to Me: "Lose My Channel Number"

Well, this is it... my final weekend in the 18-34 demographic. Marketers are going to look at me differently come Sunday. Several networks are going to drop me like yesterday's garbage, while several more older-skewing ones will now welcome me with open arms. Pharmaceutical companies want to get to know me better. Extreme energy drinks, not so much.

So how shall I celebrate my last two days as being relevant to the youth marketplace? Watch a "Gossip Girl" marathon? Chug a six-pack of Mountain Dew? Suggestions welcome.

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.

Happy 226th, Los Angeles!

On this day in 1781, 44 settlers walked from Mission San Gabriel and founded a new pueblo: "El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles del Río de Porciúncula."

How are you celebrating? I mean, besides grabbing a Mr. Churro at Olvera Street?

Mike, 26 Years Ago Today

Here's how I celebrated my birthday at age 8... clearly, not much has changed. (That's our house on Masbate St. at Clark Air Base, Philippines. It's now part of a golf resort.)