Cardboard Young Rock and Simone Biles Find a New Home

 Thanks to Celia and Jim, our old blogging pals from the days that people used to blog (which I am barely still doing!) for giving a new home to Young Rock and Simone Biles. When I recently posted that I wasn't sure what to do with Cardboard Rock -- who helpfully looked after our house while we were on vacation in July -- Celia recommended her store in downtown Los Angeles, <a href="https://rawmaterialsla.com/">Raw Materials Art Supplies</a>. Now, Rock and Simone have a home, next to Bob Ross. We'll be visiting!

Franklin Avenue Turns 14!

Hard to believe that so much time has passed, but Franklin Avenue hits its 14th blogiversary today! Of course, a lot has changed in those years, both for us and in the real world. (Remember when we lived in a democracy, for example? Oh, the good old days!) When Franklin Avenue launched, we still lived on Franklin Avenue... had been married just a few months... and kids were still just an idea. "Blogging," of course, has changed a lot, and in many ways has been replaced by social media. (My @franklinavenue Twitter handle is much more immediate and active than this blog these days, which is why I still appreciate every one who drops by to see our restaurant reviews, musings about life in LA, etc.) Now, in just two more years, this blog can drive!

Happy Birthday to Us: Franklin Avenue Turns 12!

Hey, remember when "blogging" was the cool thing to do? Everyone signed up and started writing their own "weblog," in the age before Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and everything else?

[Pauses, strokes graying beard] Oh, I remember. But hey, we're still here, 12 years in, writing about Los Angeles, reviewing restaurants, scouting out "Mad Men" locations, sharing local ratings info, telling you cool places to take the kids, walking 16 miles down an LA street each year and whatever else. Oh yeah, pimping my KCRW appearances. It is an odd little mishmash of stuff, huh.

Well, thanks for being with us for this journey... and here's to 12 more. (Really? Won't the Blogger Kids be Blogger Adults by then? Yes.)

Happy Birthday, Pio Pico! And More from Los Angeles Heritage Day

I was truly honored to be included by John Bwarie in this photo of true passionate Angelenos -- including histotainer Charles Phoenix, Councilman Tom LaBonge, KCET's Zach Behrens, Hidden LA's Lynn Garrett and LA Observed's Kevin Roderick. The pic above was taken by happenstance, as we were all standing outside Pico House the afternoon of April 14 to celebrate LA Heritage Day 2013.

I can never get enough of LA history, and this year's LA Heritage Day 2013 was a great opportunity to check out what was new with the various local organizations devoted to our region's past. There was even a Pio Pico impersonator -- making this blog post timely (rather than a month late!) since Pico -- the final governor of California under Mexico rule -- would have celebrated his 212th birthday on May 5.

In my previous post, I took you inside Pico House and the Merced Theatre, two of LA's oldest remaining buildings. Now a peek back inside the main floor of the Pico House -- and around the El Pueblo plaza:


"Pio Pico"


Inside the Pico House

Happy Birthday To Us: Franklin Avenue Turns 10

Remember when blogs were the hot new thing? Before Facebook, before Twitter... hell, even before MySpace was oh-so-briefly the craze, people were blogging. We got into the game rather late, on March 4, 2003, way after many folks had started doing it. But soon after, the whole blogging thing really took off. Remember the 2005 L.A. Times Calendar section cover story The New Faces of The City? Franklin Avenue was included in a small roundup of L.A. blogs worth checking out, several of which now no longer exist.

I still remember the thrill I got in the early days of the blog, checking our stats constantly to see if people were showing up -- and where they were coming from. And when we'd get linked to by another, bigger blog? Amazing. It was the late, lamented LA Examiner that first inspired me to blog, and when the guys over there (Matt Welch and Ken Layne) gave us one of our first big links, driving tons of traffic to Franklin Avenue, I was hooked.

Now the web is so loud and noisy -- and lousy with millions of blogs and websites -- I must admit, some of that thrill is gone. And I probably spend more time updating and caring for my Twitter feed than the blog a lot of the time. But social media has at least given bloggers a platform to drive traffic back to their sites. And I still do get giddy when one of my posts picks up steam and gets linked on megasites. Recently, my post about the LA Times dropping TV listings did that. So did my YouTube video of the prank caller to KCBS.

Ten years later, we've reviewed nearly 300 restaurants, have held seven editions of The Great Los Angeles Walk, helped throw a wake for the Ambassador Hotel and spawned two Blogger Kids, among many other things. It's hard to believe it's been ten years. Thanks for joining us on this journey.

Here's how we marked our 5th anniversary, and here's the underwhelming post that started it all.

Farewell (for now) to Dodger Thoughts

Is blogging still relevant in 2012? Is it really worth putting much energy into a site when important life and job matters keep you from doing the kind of blog you really want to do? It's questions I often ask myself as I barely keep Franklin Avenue going -- I used to pride myself on posting at least three times a day; now it's one, if I'm lucky.

But because Franklin Avenue is a small site to begin with, I can keep this place quietly chugging. My friend Jon Weisman had to make a really tough decision recently with his famed site Dodger Thoughts, long one of the premiere blogs for all things Dodgers -- and at one time, housed at the L.A. Times and ESPN. With kids getting older and a more taxing schedule at Variety (include a time-intensive awards blog), and having gone back to his independent blog roots, Jon recently decided to put Dodger Thoughts on hiatus:

Anyone reading this site knows how hard it has been for me to maintain a pretense that the site is still useful in 2012. There have been some decent moments, but mostly, it’s been painful. And it’s not getting any easier. My family and my day job demand bigger and bigger shares of my energy and my sanity. So let’s cut to the chase: I’m designating myself for assignment.

That doesn’t mean I’m never going to post here again – in fact, I can almost promise that I will at some point – but it does mean I’m releasing myself from the daily task of writing about the Dodgers, as well as creating chat threads for every game. Dodger Thoughts has become a burden – the opposite of what it was intended to be – and there are too many other sites that now do what I set out to do more productively. The fact that I’m cutting and running with only two weeks left in the regular season (and a Dodger playoff appearance still very much a possibility) indicates just how much of a burden it has been. For all their problems, I believe in the Dodgers much more right now than I believe in my capacity to write about them. That about says it all.

Go check out Variety's The Vote blog, where Jon is now blogging up a storm.

Ride The Wave: The Surf Report is Back!

Good news, TV fans: Our pal Diane Gordon has relaunched The Surf Report, her daily look at all things good in TV. Go to TheSurfReport.biz to read there, or sign up for Di's newsletter. Some highlights from the week:

BREAKING BAD: Hank has completely become his criminal alter-ego (for lack of a better term) Heisenberg. It’s not a split personality thing but it might as well be, because the old Walt White is not going to return. His marriage to Skyler – poor Skyler! – will never be what it was and after she told him she’s his hostage, not his wife, well, does anyone think it can end well for her? I’m thinking straitjacket or a shallow grave for her. For now, I’m just hoping the kids stay with Hank and Marie so they’ll make it out alive.

POLITICAL ANIMALS: I think there was some confusion when the series premiered about whether it was Greg Berlanti's attempt to do a WEST WING-type show. In reality, the show is a well-crafted melodrama that takes place in D.C. politics and media. The entire cast is very strong, led by Sigourney Weaver as Secretary of State Elaine Barrish, Carla Gugino as reporter Susan Berg, James Wolk as Barrish's ambitious, eldest son Douglas and Sebastian Stan (calling all KINGS fans!) as T.J., the family's troubled, drug-addicted son who came out publicly when he was a teenager living in the White House when his father was president. Ellen Burstyn gets to be feisty and say "you little s--t" to a lot of people as Elaine's mother Margaret. Finally, there's Ciaran Hinds as Elaine's ex-husband, former President Bud Barrish (think Bill Clinton). Hinds is a great actor but his southern accent left much to be desired. Happily, he tones it down in the season closer and the character is far more effective without the exaggerated southern drawl. What I love about this show and why I hope USA orders more episodes: the Bud / Elaine relationship is adult, contradictory, often contentious and combative yet I understand why they were attracted to each other and why their political ambitions complement each other, even after they've divorced. If you haven't caught all six episodes, click over to Hulu.com and catch up.

Diane talks about everything -- "Suits," "White Collar," "Louie," "Awkward," "The Newsroom," and so much more. Check her out on Twitter via @thesurfreport.

Moving Day for Dodger Thoughts

Our pal Jon Weisman is moving his popular Dodger Thoughts blog off of ESPN LA's platform, where he's been based for the past 2 years, and back to indie status. Jon talks about the move in his first post at his reclaimed www.dodgerthoughts.com address (and how his move to the L.A. Times website cost him some commenters in 2009):

By the time I moved two years ago to ESPN Los Angeles, I was left to focus on doing the best work I could, hoping to at least retain readers if not commenters. As far as my professional life, I dreamed big again.

Well, now I’m back on my own. For now, anyway. The reasons, I think I can say without being indecorous, relate to shifting priorities over there in the big city. So what are you gonna do?

Start over. Reboot. So here we are. I could be here for 10 days or 10,000. Still figuring that out. Still figuring a lot of things out. There’s still so much I dream of accomplishing, but my path is still around a bend or two. I’m eager to see what happens.

So, if you’ve made it this far, here to home No. 6 (four more to catch Tommy Davis), thanks for stopping by. I’ll do my best to provide informative, meaningful and fun posts as much as or more than ever before. Hope you hang out a while.

Good luck, Jon! Having sat next to him at Variety for years, I know Jon is normally sporting his pre-opening day Dodgers Beard right about now.

Franklin Avenue's Fresh Coat of Paint

It was about time. Thanks to Maria for giving Franklin Avenue a much-needed facelift over the weekend. We're still working out a few bugs -- including the fact that we're now using Blogger's comments system, which means all of our old comments are no longer on the blog. At least for now. They're still stored away in our Haloscan account, and maybe we'll figure out a way to bring them back.

Thanks for continuing to check out Franklin Avenue, as we celebrate our ninth blog-iversary in March. Here's a glimpse at how the blog has evolved over the years, starting with our initial look in 2003:

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

Things I Wish I Hadn't Missed: The Donut Summit

I don't have many regrets this summer, but one of them is having to once again miss Blogging.la's annual Donut Summit. Work committments (it was the TV Critics Assn. summer press tour) kept me away from the foodie fun... but no matter: Billy Vasquez, The 99 Cent Chef, took this video of the event, above.

I'll (hopefully) be there next year!

The Militant Angeleno Visits Long Beach

Ever since the L.A. City Nerd stopped blogging, the equally mysterious Militant Angeleno has taken the crown as the most passionate blogger about our great city. Now, the Militant has hopped on the Blue Line and traveled down to Long Beach, filing a series of reports this week about Los Angeles County's No. 2 city.

The first two entries are chock full of interesting info:

Seven LB Buildings You Should Know About

Under the Bridg-izzle

The first entry highlights several of Long Beach's famous and historic structures, including 1929's Villa Riviera (above) and 1967's circular International Tower.

And the bridg-izzle story? The Militant investigates "a concrete bridge supporting Orange Ave. and East Hill Street in Long Beach, just near the Signal Hill border. That sunken trench was once the Pacific Electric Railway's Newport-Balboa Line," the Militant writes.

As for Long Beach, the Militant explains his interest in the city: Known for a big boat, an aquarium, Snoop Dogg and the harbor, it also has many other unique qualities to it and its own history. The Militant's Long Beach Week will by no means be comprehensive, and you probably won't be some Longbeachologist by next week, but living basically in the shadow of Los Angeles for its entire history, its time to at least give The LBC some props. So Long Beach, this ones for you.
Militant Angeleno just celebrated his/her fourth blogiiversary.

Please Stand By: Blogger Problems

I lost a few posts on Thursday due to the Great Blogger Outage of 2011. Still waiting for them to come back... so stay tuned.

Franklin Avenue is 8!

It's really stunning to think that we've now been blogging about life in Los Angeles for EIGHT years. Thanks for joining us for the ride -- to think when we launched in 2003, we were sans Blogger Kid, Blogger Toddler 2.0 and still actually lived on Franklin Avenue!

Scenes from the Second "Blogger Prom"

(Photo: Heather Kincaid.)

Yes, I know, the idea of a "Blogger Prom" is a little geeky. But we're geeks. The theme at Wednesday night's event, held at Yamashiro, was "Hollywood Confidential," and Maria and I tried our best to make it work. I grabbed an old tux sitting in the back of my closet, adding a hat to the mix... and Maria always looks classy.

Like last year's event, the organizers managed to get quite a few sponsors to offer up their wares, from Coolhaus ice cream sandwiches and Eagle Rock Brewery craft beers to Crumbs cupcakes and gourmet tacos from Chef Brock, who regularly sells his food at Yamashiro's Thursday night farmers' market.

We enjoyed running into and chatting with several fellow bloggers, including Blogdowntown's David Markland, jozjozjoz's Joz, Slackmistress' Nina, LA Story's Laura (a former Variety colleague), and others.



Some images from the night:


Classy.


Bloggers stand amid the Tweetdeck.


Chef Brock's taco menu -- we went with the black cod


Jozjozjoz named Blogger Prom queen.


Friend of Franklin Avenue, L.A. Story's Laura Clark.


Coolhaus -- Maria had salted caramel ice cream between two chocolate cookies, while I went with green tea ice cream between two Snickerdoodles.


Old Hollywood on the video screen.


LAist's Lindsay William-Ross and e*starla's Esther Tseng at the check-in.


Mini-cupcakes from Crumbs.


Cocktails.


Enjoyed the food, including the (above) hukilau poke: Ahi, teardrop tomato, macadamia nuts and soy-sesame marinade on a wonton crisp.

Other food included Asian baby back ribs with house-made BBQ sauce; hoisin-braised Kurobuta pork carnitas with scallion risotto and honey-mustard sauce; charred albacore with serrano chilies, blackened shallots, cilantro and tomatillo-ponzu salsa on a tortilla chip; and Japanese rice-cracker crispy chicken with spiced plum sauce.

-- Written by Mike

Taster Tots Searches for Kid-Friendly Dining in L.A.

Like many of you, we've struggled to keep up with L.A.'s ever-changing restaurant scene now that we've got tykes in tow.

But it's all about picking the right restaurants -- and the right times (hint: lunch or early dinner) -- for both you and the little ones to enjoy.

Enter longtime L.A. food blogger Jessica Ritz, who has just launched a new website, Taster Tots L.A., to help guide L.A. parents on where to eat -- and what to avoid.

Jessica's early reviews include downtown's Starry Kitchen and Fairfax's Golden State. Among her criteria: What's kid-friendly on the menu? What will adults like? And... is there a changing table in the bathroom?

Oh, and one more thing: Maria designed that catchy logo. Good luck to Jessica on the new site!

Metblogs L.A. Brings Back Its Original Blogging Name

Congrats to Sean and the folks behind Metblogs -- not too long ago they were threatening to shut the whole place down, but now they're not only back, but the L.A. flagship site has a nice new coat of paint.

As part of the redesign, they've once again embraced the site's original name, blogging.la. Which is good, since I never got around to changing the URL when they dumped it.

The Fried Chicken Face Off: And The Winner Isn't What You'd Expect

JustJenn tried to kill us this weekend. And we were willing participants.

The Franklin Avenue Quartet (hmm, that's a new one, by the way -- you like?) was invited this Saturday over to crafty/foody/designy blogger extraordinaire JustJenn's place, where she was organizing a great big, greasy FRIED CHICKEN FACE-OFF.

How could we not, right?

We grabbed a bucket of the golden crispy stuff from Glendale's famous Dinah's Fried Chicken (as seen in "Little Miss Sunshine") and plopped it next to seven other fried chickens Jenn had found from various sources.

Why fried chicken? Well, first off, why not? But second of all, Jenn had sent in a proposal for a food face-off to food blogging community Foodbuzz, which said yes to her idea.

What's that slurping noise? Oh, it's just my arteries hardening.

Along with a few other families, we chowed down, piece by piece, on all eight varieties. Interestingly, all eight came in a variety of colors, consistency and grease level. And there was a definite difference in taste (although after a while, they did all start to morph together as the grease coated my tongue).



Jenn asked us to rate the eight varieties in terms of tastiest flavor, most juicy, greazy factor and "best overall chicken."

The contenders:






I personally liked A, D and E the best. A was light on the grease, which is a plus in my book; D had a nice, sweet coating and was probably my favorite; and E had a good spice.

On the whole, however, F won the big prize.

So which was which?

A: Popeye’s
B: Knott’s Berry Farm
C: KFC
D: The Loft Hawaiian style fried chicken
E: Louisiana Fried Chicken
F: Albertson’s supermarket
G: Dinah’s Family Restaurant
H: Litz Restaurant

Whoa. Albertson's won? (Louisiana Fried Chicken was a close second.) That's just... wrong.

But the taste testers have spoken. (By the way, we brought home some of the Loft's Hawaiian chicken -- and JustJenn was right, it tasted great even cold. The Loft now wins my vote.)



This being JustJenn, our taste test ended with homemade cupcakes. In related news, my pants don't fit today. But NO REGRETS.

(Check out JustJenn's roundup of the face off here.)