this is really happening

it's summer and i, along with most people i know are trying to have some fun around here without spending so much. with the help of the internets and pencil and paper i jotted down a few fun and thrifty ideas. mmm, that last sentence made me think of Thrifty's ice cream.


in no particular order...

1. the La Brea Tar Pits. i can still remember coming here as a child and wondering why no one would help save those muther freaking animals from the tar. last year i learned they're just statues. good times. apparently there's a b-movie/bad science film series happening. the next one goes down august 29th and is free to the public.

5801 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
hours: 9:30-5 daily

Adults: $7.00
Seniors 62 and older and Students with I.D.: $4.50

Youths 13-17 years old: $4.50
Children 5-12 years old: $2.00
Members and Children under 5: Free

parking is 7 bucks WITH validation. if you'd rather take a public transportation check out metro.net and click trip planner. or clicky here.

2. griffith observatory. this place has a stellar planetarium show. it's relatively easy to get here on public transportation. there are 50 cent shuttles that pick up around the general area and take you up and down the mountain.

admission is free and the planetarium show runs about 7 bucks for students (call to verify as prices can change)

Griffith Observatory
2800 East Observatory Road
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(213) 473-0800

3. Aquairum of the Pacific offers a free admission to seniors 60 and over on september 8 from 9 -2pm

open 9-6 every day except december 25
regular admission:

• Adult: $24.95
• Child (3-11): $12.95
• Senior (62+): $21.95

there are also special discount NIGHTS in the summer where from 5-10pm everyone gets in for about 12 bucks. this price and time is only valid on certain days. and you need to buy your ticket online. click here to find out more.

4. MOCA has several locations and the only location you have to pay for is FREE after 5pm on thursdays.

152 N. Central Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Phone: 213.626.6222

5. the getty. oh, Getty. how i love thee. the getty is always free. parking, however is 15 bucks - or free after 5pm.

Opening Hours
Hours for the Getty Center site and galleries:
monday: closed
tuesday - friday AND sunday 10-5:30
saturday: 10- 9pm

one of the great things about LA is being able to find virtually anything you want. want a drive-in movie? you got it.

vineland drive-in in the city of industry
this is madhouse and i love it. loads and loads of cars (get there early), kids running around, concession stand, stray dogs, music. madhouse.

devil's night in downtown la
never been to this before though i've seen the screen while driving through downtown and always wondered what that was. apparently the screen is pretty small and the sound is crap. enter @ your own risk. i'll certainly update these rumors once i've been.

the steve allen theater in hollywood also does drive-ins but apparently they do them seasonally. you can click here to check if they have one scheduled. i highly recommend this little gem. been to many a q&a's here that have been highly memorable. overall, a pretty hip/great spot for entertainment with or without the drive-in.

i'll definitely post more if i hear any good things from the local drive-ins. if you have a spot i haven't listed post it on the comments with an addy pleeeease.

unicorn disco

i don't think i ask for much when i say i want a game i can waste my life on and that it has unicorns in it and that you get to smash through stars while Erasure plays.

behold the glory


my life is complete.

i wish i was the moon tonight

Douche bags wait in line for cupcakes...

So i was one of those douche bags waiting in line for Sprinkles cupcakes (9635 S. Santa Monica Blvd.). So far so good. I've come home from Sprinkles and have practically snorted the first cup cake down. Red Velvet. Yum. I also got a vanilla and a Cinco de Mayo cupcake. It's a pretty good joint. The parking in blah. We waited in line about 15 minutes. Not too bad if you bring someone with you and talk about how hard it was to find parking.



I also found where John Carpenter's Halloween was filmed (south pasadena). The old Michael Meyers' is now a chiropracter's office. It is located at 1000 Mission. It is RIGHT next to the Gold line tracks so if you are sans car this is a site for YOU. Also it is located next to my favorites: Busters and Videothêque (GREATEST DVD/VIDEO rental place EVER).

Meridian (crosses Mission) was where they filmed the scene that depicts Jamie Lee Curtis is being stalked. She crosses the street in the movie. In real life -on Meridian- there is a group of new condos, marking that area where she crossed.


Fun times.

coachella 09

This post doesn't really have much to do with Los Angeles except that every L.A. hipster was absent this past weekend due to the scene going down in Indio.


Coachella went down without any deaths this year which is more than I can say for last year :( Some highlights (according to yours truly) included the Airbourne Toxic Event (even though they were snubbed by Ben for not saying "thank you" after their set and even though the guy behind me was yelling "LOS FELIZ!!!!!" throughout the entire set). I thought they sounded smooth and kudos to them for still wearing scenester black even though our brains were melting from the heat.


Another highlight included the Paul Weller set. He played infront of an easy going crowed. Seemed to be a lot of parents with their preteens at his show until he played Town Called Malice and everyone from everywhere ran to his set. I danced from my seat at the food court, pizza in hand.

There were no sweet potatoes this year at the food court. This made me sad.



Some other acts I caught were Leonard Cohen, White Lies, Band of Horses, James Morrison, M.I.A., X, and Throbbing Gristle. Murder City Devils were probably the best act of the weekend for me. Both they AND their crowd had a lot of energy and good vibes. My Bloody Valentine gets props for their sound holocaust. I'm not really sure how I felt about reverb for close to 20 minutes but they get props for having the guts to do that AND go over their time slot for it. Of course I caught Paul Mcartney. Of course he was brilliant. He's a Beatle for god's sake.



I also caught the Killers. Their set was interesting. Lead singer, Brandon Flowers sang in perfect pitch, causing a stir on the Coachella messege boards. Was it lip-synch? I don't really know. I can't tell but also I don't care much. On night 2 and 3 of the show the sound system for the last acts was a FAIL. This included the Killers set as well as the M.I.A. set and Morrissey though the latter were the only two acts to keep mentioning the lack of sound quality. Honestly, I wouldn't have noticed the sound issues during their sets except that they kept mentioning it when they couldn't hear themselves.


Morrissey almost threw up on stage. He said the smell of "rotting flesh" was bothersome. I'm guessing he's a vegetarian? Honestly, I didn't even notice that horrid smell till Morrissey said something. Thanks Morrissey.


PICTURES: Coachella artwork, Coachella sunet and Airbourne Toxic Event (top) and P. McCartney (bottom)

hey man i'm only trying to have a good time here

i've been writing a lot. that is my excuse for not updating this thing too often. also, i've been thinking about getting into scrap booking and learning to work my sewing machine so...when that happens look for even less updates. just sayin'...


so this is where i would have gone hiking last weekend if Ben didn't get sick.

BLIMEY!


i shall try an attempt this weekend but does not look good so far.


why do i want to go hiking here? why not go hiking. it's so freakin' sunny and happy outside and also i could use the workout. i've been doing pretty well on the treadmill but there is nothing quite like a REAL hill. i think. anyway, Echo Mountain is also supposidly haunted. at the end of the trail there is an abandoned hotel. or, the remains of the hotel. i'm not sure if this is why the spot is haunted. for some reason i'm doubting the stories surrounding this place. however, i DO want to see an abandoned hotel.


i PROMISE i will post something about LA here that is not about a haunting or where somebody famous died. A forwarning: it will probably involve food.


i baked bread today and feel good about that. till next time...

good times keep rolling don't you escape now

Aaaaaagh. man. why does it take me so long to post on this thing? i really do think about posting throughout the week so why don't i just do it?


here's a Monroe pic i found today. i thought it was kinda cool.


Good times.


i wonder what she was eating.


i visited the house that monroe died in. well, i drove by it. it's a back house with a great big wooden fence around it. didn't suprise me -the whole privacy thing. why the fascination with her? I just saw Clash By Night and she kind of peaked my interest. i'd never really seen her on the screen before this viewing. she glowed. there is no other story but her when she is on screen. this attribute must have been wonderful and a nightmare for her.


Fritz Lang said she was hard to work with. According to Lang, she had trouble remembering her lines. The movie is pretty spectacular, however, so she found a way to remember - or he found a way to make her remember. whatever. they got it done.


It's hard to figure out what to do with pretty things.

The house where she was found is at 12305 5th. Helena Drive, Brentwood.

linda vista hospital

this place is supposidly haunted. i'm not sure if i buy that, but the place IS pretty creepy. i can see how it might have had more than it's share of deaths given it was a hospital in a less desired area of los angeles.

apparently you can look around inside if you call ahead. the building is available for filming. what does this mean? expect some pictures from inside the building sometime this month from me.

this isn't my site - i swear!

this has to be the coolest building. ever. some brave/stupid people broke into it and got these shots.


these people need to become my best friends immediately.


clicky here to see what i'm talking about

things to do...people to see

Recently, while recovering from a lunch at Las Fuentes (18415 Vanowen street in Reseda) we decided to take a spontaneous hike. About 15 minutes later and after seeing a random accident involving a boat and car (yes you heard me right: a boat smashed into a car), we ended up around the Rocky Peak area (118 east, exit rocky peak). This brings us to the first installment of things to do...people to see.


The area around Rocky Peak is an unbelievable hiking area. The actual trail/mountain called "rocky peak" is not for the faint of heart but there are plenty of surrounding trails that are just as beautiful and that won't kill you.


one area i've always been interested in is the area around where the old Spahn Ranch used to stand. The ranch burned down a while ago and in its place is a lush, green meadow overlooking a small spring and rugged hiking paths. the area is peaceful - not too popular and perfect for explorers who aren't ready for 100 miles uphill with no shade (if that sounds like your thing then by all means go for it).


the Spahn Ranch area was once made famous by the Manson family. they allegedly befriended the owner of the ranch who used his property as a movie set for production companies. Episodes of Bonanza were filmed here as were episodes for The Lone Ranger. the owner (George Spahn) let the family stay here as long as they looked after the place and ran the rental business. The documentary about the Manson family was filmed here in 1969. In November of the next year a wildfire burned the ranch down. The state of California is the current owner.


The only way to really comminicate just where this area is, is to tell you that the Church at Rocky Peak stands directly across from it. If you drive along topanga, you'll turn right at santa susana pass road. you'll see an uphill drive. directly across from this is where Spahn Ranch once stood. there will be a California State Park sign on the property. other than that, there isn't any sign that reads something like 'former home of helter skelter' or anything like that.


again, the area is pretty peaceful. use caution. i've never run into any trouble myself but always, ALWAYS bring someone else with you on ANY hike. bring comfortable shoes. perhaps a flashlight. some areas get dark with the shade. the trails are a bit rugged so handy man gloves might be a good idea. bring some water with you too. THE AREA IS DECEPTIVE. on the surface this little meadow looks harmless but it isn't. once down into the running spring you've entered the vortex. you could easily spend a few hours here.

dessert heaven for under ten bucks

and here we go...

1. first up is Alcove on Hillhurst in the Los Feliz/Griffith Park area. my eyes are tearing up thinking about the See's Candy Chocolate Cake (DO IT!). the desserts are sensational. really, they're quite a work of art. the entrees themselves are pretty delicious as well. turkey hummus melt tells me this place is creative AND tasty. both plates can be served with a cup of coffee for around ten bucks. great deal AND the cherry on top is this is that the Alcove is a great date place. bring a sweater. the best seats are outside on the patio.
2. next up is Al Gelato on Robertson in Beverly Hills. GET A SLICE OF APPLE PIE. this is the place to be if you've got a sweet tooth. it's a smaller restaurant. you've got to squeeze into the tables maneuver around the ATM (they don't take credit cards, bring cash to avoid the service fee) but this place is totally worth the effort. if pie isn't your thing try the red velvet cake. best in the west. oh - and don't pass up the gelato either. coffee crunch. trust me on this.
3. Scoops on Heliotrope Dr. in Los Angeles is the best when it comes to ice cream. i might even go so far as to say that they are tied with Fosselman's (Main Street in Alhambra). Scoop's reputation preceded my experience with them. I'd been hearing about this ice cream for about a year before i finally tried some. i tried some sort of "brown bread" concoction and it made sparklies go off somewhere in my brain.
4. MILK on Beverly Blvd.: trying it out this weekend. i will let ya know.
   

next, a list of great places i've been hiking...or maybe i will just list my Manson Murders sites. we'll see what i feel like.

coming sooooon

look here for where to find the best desserts in LA for under 10 bucks and also my review of Canadian Dan's movie reviews.

intro to los angeles 101

even though i reside here, the city still screams out with new and exciting concepts and i am constantly in awe at the sheer beauty of this place. lately, i've been coming up on some nice little nuggets here in the city. i guess i just thought i'd share these with you. enjoy...or don't.

cindy
hoorayforcindy@yahoo.com