Insult to Injury on La Brea's Tree Kill Lane

It's not bad enough that the lush trees on La Brea were chopped down earlier this year (leaving nothing but ugly stumps up and down the street), but now, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts building -- which had previously been covered by the trees -- has painted its La Brea campus a puke-y burnt orange.



Too... much... orange. Why was that necessary?

Granted, I'm still getting used to the stark brightness of that part of La Brea (not to mention those naked stumps) in the wake of last October's tree massacare.



Here's a reminder of what went down. As you can see, behind the trees, the American Academy of Dramatic Arts building was a deep olive color. Not sure that's much better (what's with these Crayola 64 box colors?), but it's still not as out of place as that burnt orange.

Daylight Saving Blues?

I definitely appreciate it when there's more sun in the evening, and actually don't mind Daylight Saving Time for most of its run (although I'm not nearly as big of a fan as the Militant Angeleno).

But man, how tough has it been this week to wake up in the morning? Trying to open my blurry eyes and make coffee in the pitch black of 6 a.m. has been extra painful. And because I usually don't leave the office until after 7:30 p.m., the extra daylight has been lost on me.

Eventually the sun will start staying out until after 8 p.m. and I'll actually drive home in some light. Then my cheers will rival the Militant.

Anyone else having a hard time adjusting to this earlier DST?

The Bloggest Loser: Week Nine

A lot of you still aren't back, but I am! Finally made it to the gym on Monday, and I'm happy to report that despite all the back sliding I've done with the food, I'm still down half a pound. (That may have changed after last night's taco binge, but I have a few days to work it off.) The latest:

Ashley: XXX (from 148, minus XXX pounds) START: 155, GOAL: 140
Bob: XXX (from 217.2, minus XXX pounds) START: 226.4, GOAL: 190
Don: 228 (from 223.5, plus 4.5 pounds) START: 231, GOAL: 196
Fexy: 133 (from 132.5, plus 0.5 pounds) START: 135, GOAL: 125
Jenny: XXX (from 154.4, minus XXX pounds) START: 155, GOAL: 130
Jim: XXX (from 343, minus XX pounds) START: 343, GOAL: 263
Joe: XXX (from 232, minus XX pounds) START: 238, GOAL: 198
Kathryn: XXX (from 252.4, minus XXX pounds) START: 257.4, GOAL: 190 (140 by end of 2008)
Me (Mike): 173 (from 173.5, minus 0.5 pounds) START: 180.5, GOAL: 163
Will: 216 (from 218, minus 2 pounds) START: 225, GOAL: 195

(Logo via BloggestLoser.Blogsome.com)

Big Boy, Big Preservationist Hero

(Pic by The Downey Patriot.)

The Downey Patriot reports (h/t to Metblogs L.A.) that Bob's Big Boy restaurants is one step closer to taking over the old Johnie's Broiler that mysteriously partially destroyed last year.

Writes the paper:

Johnie's Broiler property owner Christos Smyrniotis and representatives of Bob's Big Boy reached an agreement in principle last Friday in which Johnie's would be restored to a functional diner, complete with its 1950's Googie architecture and bustling weekend carhops.

The two sides are now waiting for the historical design firm of Chattel Architecture, Planning and Preservation, hired by the city to survey the property two weeks ago, to present its findings, Smyrniotis said.

"So far so good. We have agreed in principle and now we're waiting for the report to come back," Smyrniotis said. "It appears to me that [Bob's Big Boy] is very excited. It's only a matter of time."

Whither the Shrine Auditorium?

(Flickr pic by Alan Light.)

Now that it's official that the Emmys are moving to L.A. Live's Nokia Theatre, that makes yet another major event that has vacated the Shrine Auditorium.

The Shrine first opened in 1926 as the headquarters for the Shriners' Al Malaikah Temple. Architect G. Albert Lansburgh designed the building, along with local architects John C. Austin and A. M. Edelman, according to Wikipedia.

The Academy Awards, the Grammys and the Emmys all once made the Shrine their usual home. Slowly, that's changed, as the Oscars moved to its signature Kodak Theatre home, while the Grammys (which used to swap coasts, but now mostly airs from L.A.) expanded into the Staples Center. Among the holy trinity of Hollywood awards shows, that left the Emmys.

Now, of course, the Emmys move to the Nokia starting this year (with the Governors' Ball at the Convention Center next door). Another event that also broadcast from the Shrine, the American Music Awards, moved to the Nokia last fall.

To be sure, the Shrine still holds many big events, such as the SAG Awards, and is the venue for USC graduations, among other celebrations. The venerable auditorium isn't going anywhere. And it's not like the Shrine has always held these events anyway; the Oscars only moved to the Shrine in the late 1980s after a run at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and the Emmys just moved to the Shrine a decade ago after a stint at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium.

But at the same time, people in the rest of the country will be hearing those booming words -- "LIVE! From the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles!" -- less often in the future. And the Shrine may be destined to join sites such as the Forum, the L.A. Memorial Sports Arena and the Grand Olympic Auditorium as classic L.A. venues whose glory days may be behind them.