Category Archives: Los Angeles

April 27, 2025 · 23:42

Metro

When I needed to get to the USC campus south of downtown Los Angeles yesterday for the LA Times Festival of Books, I expected traffic to be nightmarish, parking to be limited and expensive, and the entire experience of getting there and then getting home by car to be an ordeal. I also knew that I could take the LA Metro system of subways and light rail to get right to the door for about $5 with many fewer hassles. It was a no brainer.

Most people, even those here in LA, even MANY of those who have lived in LA for decades, don’t know how easy or extensive Metro is. Here’s to hoping that work being done preparing for the upcoming Summer Olympics in three years (if they don’t pull them for another foreign city due to our current government) will educate folks and spread the word.

Metro here consists of subways, light rail, dedicated bus routes, and regular street buses. It’s not perfect (getting to LAX is tough, for example, but they’re working on that) and it’s usually slower than taking your own car (although there are days…) but it’s worth having a TAP card with $20 or so loaded on it in your wallet, just in case.

In theory, I could have picked up any one of about three different bus lines within a mile or so of my house. From there I would have transferred to the Orange Line dedicated bus lane which goes to the North Hollywood transit center. There I could have gotten on the Red (B) line subway, transferred to the Expo (E) line light rail, and gotten off right at the front gate to the USC campus. Depending on the timing of the transfers, it would have taken maybe 2:30. (Driving there myself with no traffic would be about 0:40 with zero traffic, and about 1:30 yesterday morning.)

Instead, I drove to the Universal Studios station (one stop down the line from North Hollywood, but there’s a big parking lot there and it’s fast & easy to get to), and got on the Red (B) line there. Total time from my door to meeting my daughter near the Tommy Trojan statue was 2:05.

Descending into the Earth from the parking lot at the Universal Studios station.

Making sure I had funds on the TAP card I carry around.

Going down to the train tracks. On the right, headed north one more stop to the North Hollywood transit center, on the left, headed south to Hollywood and then to Union Station, where in theory I could catch an Amtrak train to go as far as I wanted.

Artwork everywhere. I’ve been on the subway in London, New York, Washington, Prague, Kyoto, Seoul, and Shanghai – the LA subways are as good or better than any in terms of functionality, safety, and cleanliness.

Transferring to the Expo line at 7th/Metro Center station. From here, it’s four stops to USC. Easy peasy.

If you’re coming to visit LA and you’re going to be going all over doing sightseeing and visiting friends and folks, sure, maybe a rental car is easier, as long as you’re comfortable driving the LA freeways. (Which, while legendary for the stress levels and traffic, aren’t REALLY any worse than Chicago, New York, Boston, Dallas, or any other large American city.) But if you’re staying in LA (and not, say, down in Orange County by Disneyland, where the LA Metro system doesn’t connect well) and just want to get to a few popular places (downtown, Hollywood, Santa Monica, the beach) you might just want to check out if Metro will work for you.

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Filed under Los Angeles, Photography, Travel

April 26, 2025 · 22:35

2025 LA Times Festival Of Books

After a long, stressful week, what I want more than anything is to sleep in late and then do nothing except sit on my butt, with maybe a nap or two thrown in for good measure. Which is why I got up at 7:00 AM this morning, got dressed warmly (it was cold and rainy) and headed out for a day of “adventure.”

A couple of subway rides later (NO WAY I was going to try to mess with traffic and parking at a huge event in a crowded part of town when the Metro dropped me off at the front gates!) I was at the entrance to the USC campus for the first time in my 50+ years here. I’ve been across the street to the Coliseum a few times, and to the Science Museum down the street, but never actually on campus.

Nice place I guess, big bucks and an attitude to match at every turn, but at least the rain had stopped by the time our first event was over.

The occasion was the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, which I’ve wanted to attend for years. The crowds and size are a bit daunting, easily 100,000+ per day there, maybe as many as twice that or more, but the USC campus is a big place, so it never got too awful. Lots of food trucks and a ton of booths and vendors – I didn’t get any books, knick knacks, shirts, or anything else, but next time I might not be so lucky. Next time I might come with a wish list of books that I need to pick up, but then I’ll have to carry them around and lug them on the subway…

The first panel we saw was moderated by Wil Wheaton, with favorite author John Scalzi, and new-to-me author TJ Klune. Talking about how to write speculative fiction in our bizarre political and social era. Excellent discussion. Baseline assumption as stated by Scalzi, “FASCISM FUCKING SUCKS!” No argument here!

Our second panel was the main reason that I got off my ass and made it to the event this year. Writer Chuck Wendig was there, the first time I’ve ever been able to see him live.

This panel was moderated by Ivy Pochoda, with Danielle Trussoni and Nikki Erlick also participating. It was about “magical objects” being used in their speculative fiction or horror novels. Another excellent panel, and I’ll need to be picking up some of the books from Ms. Trussoni and Mrs. Erlick to see what they were talking about, their novels sound fascinating.

(Photo: Michi Willett)

So, a good day of adventuring! Off my ass, out of my comfort zone, out doing interesting and stimulating things, and meeting up with Wonderful Daughter Two for the day. And I got all of my steps in for the day, and then some. Even my watch is happy!

Tomorrow I’ll sleep in late and then do nothing except sit on my butt, with maybe a nap or two thrown in for good measure. Maybe.

 

 

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Filed under Entertainment, Family, Los Angeles, Paul, Photography, Writing

March 22, 2025 · 21:42

Bling

One of the standard assumptions about Los Angeles (from folks who have never actually been here) is based on reality. That is, “There is NO SUCH THING as ‘too much’ garish, gaudy, or over the top stunt to attract attention. There is NO SUCH THING as ‘too much bling.”

Yes, this appears to be a Tesla Model S that’s got a wrap or paint job making it a gigantic rainbow iridescent thing, looking like some sort of  wrapped birthday present for a bar mitzvah or three-year-old’s birthday party.

This thing was parked next to a major street (Topanga Boulevard) instead of up by the stores (the better to be seen by everyone!) and it’s a blurry, full digital zoom picture because it was a block away and I’m blase enough to not bother to drive up that direction just to get a better picture. I’ve been in LA a long, long time now.

Anything for attention in LA! Which turns out to be a self-fulfilling requirement, since Angelenos have seen just about everything and we’re hard to impress.

Good luck, Rainbow Dude(ette?)!

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Filed under Los Angeles, Photography

February 16, 2025 · 23:22

Paul Was WRONG – February 16th

Let’s be clear, the fact that I messed up isn’t worthy of a headline all in and of itself – that’s a pretty common experience, actually.

But this one was rather glaring and I’m pissed about it, so it’s earned.

Yesterday’s post went on and on about LA’s “Great Park” and how most of LA doesn’t seem to know that it even exists. Well, that’s in part because it’s the Grand Park, not the “Great Park.” Specifically, the Gloria Molina Grand Park.

(Image: Google Maps)

FYI – Gloria Molina was a prominent local politician who was on the LA County Board of Supervisors for 23 years and also served on the California State Assembly and the LA City Board of Supervisors.

And, to be fair, there *IS* a “Great Park” just down the freeway a bit, in Irvine, in Orange County. Still, I shouldn’t have gotten them mixed up.

Also, one final bit, which I don’t often do – a big thumbs up to go see the current production at the Ahmanson of “Sondheim’s Old Friends” starring Bernadette Peters and Lea Salonga. It’s at the Ahmanson through March 9th, then in New York City starting March 25th. GO!! It’s spectacular! Over the past several years that we’ve had season tickets for the Ahmanson we’ve seen some amazing productions (and one or two clunkers) but last night had to be one of the best. Highly recommended.

I will now go have myself flogged for yesterday’s egregious error.

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Filed under Entertainment, Los Angeles

February 15, 2025 · 19:28

Music Festival In LA Great Park

We’re down at the Music Center for our next Ahmanson production (Sondheim’s “Old Friends” with Bernadette Peters – looking forward to this one!) and at the Great Park down the hill there’s a big music festival going on.

Most folks don’t even know that LA has a Great Park, including most folks who have lived in LA for decades. It’s not as big as New York’s Central Park, but it’s not small.

The Music Center (Ahmanson, Taper, Chandler) and Disney Concert Hall are here on these north end, City Hall is off to the south, the Hall of Justice and Cathedral are on the east (left), and there’s a ton of parking underneath it all, so it’s convenient.

Welcome to Los Angeles, City of Hidden Wonders!

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Filed under Los Angeles, Music, Photography, Video

February 4, 2025 · 23:41

Music Center Plaza

When we were at the Music Center for the play at the Taper on Saturday, I got this view of City Hall across from the fountains in the center of Jerry Moss Plaza.

In the summer there will be kids out there playing chicken as the fountains pop up and down. In the low 40’s and windy, the crowds dancing in the water were smaller.

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Filed under Critters, Los Angeles, Photography

February 1, 2025 · 19:59

LA’s Longest Running Joke

We’re back at the Music Center, tonight again at the Mark Taper Forum, not the Ahmanson, for “Fake It Until You Make It.”

Across the street, behind the sculpture and flagpoles, is this:

That’s the Department of Water & Power building and no matter how short of energy we might be from time to time, no matter the brownouts when it’s 115° and fifteen million people are running their air conditioners at Warp Factor 11, these empty office are always lit up like a Christmas tree.

And no matter how many years long the drought is, or how dead our lawns are because of the rationing, those fountains are going 24/7/365.

Welcome to LA!

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Filed under Los Angeles, Photography

January 25, 2025 · 23:52

Cascading Failure Modes

We get three & four years of severe drought. Water rationing. Extreme limits on watering the lawn (unless you’re a golf course owned by a billionaire). Lawn, open areas, trees, all get brown and dry and ready to burn. We get brush fires.

Then we have two years of above-average rain. Good, now we can water the dirt in our yards. Everything out in the wildlife areas gets green and lush.

Another year of drought. All of that new green growth gets brown and dry and extremely flammable. We burn again, tens of thousands of acres in four major and a dozen-plus minor fires all over the city and county and Ventura County, Orange County, Riverside County, San Bernardino County, San Diego County… An area the size of New England is on extreme fire watch for weeks, THOUSANDS of homes and businesses are gone.

Mind you, because they’re not in the news every night, most people think those fires are out and done. They’re not. They’re just more or less contained and not threatening any more structures and homes. But as of right now the 23,448 acre Palisades fire is still only 85% contained. The 14,021 acre Eaton fire is at 95% containment.

Oh, good, here comes a few days of rain. That will help put out the fires.

Well, yes, it will, but…

This will be a “good” rain in that it should be mild, less than an inch of rain total over three days combined, with relatively little chance of any big downpours or thunderstorms with lightning, which could start new fires.

But we now have something on the order of 50,000 acres locally that’s newly burned, most of it in canyons and steep hillsides, and any hard rain will start to cause mudslides and flooding. Barren hillsides will erode like crazy with nothing left in the way of brush and trees to hold the topsoil together. It’s time for the next disaster in the chain!

On the other hand, listening to the rain in the night and smelling the petrichor is wonderful.

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Filed under Critters, Disasters, Los Angeles, Photography, Video, Weather

January 22, 2025 · 23:08

Smoke & LAPD

The two are unrelated, so far as I know.

Another large fire broke out this morning, 25+ miles north of us up by Castaic and Lake Hughes. Again, we’re safe, but this time the winds, still blowing STRONG from the north, are blowing the smoke over us. Not chokingly thick, no ash falling, just brown clouds overhead. (The two bars of white lights are not the UFO mothership come to take me away and probe me, more’s the pity. I would love to get away… Nope, reflections from my office ceiling lights, that’s all. The horizontal streaks are the dirt and bird shit that’s been deposited and streaked everywhere with the few minutes of light showers we had two months ago.)

I went outside and walked to the corner to get a different view without the glare and reflections off the office window glass. In addition to the brown clouds off on the left, on the other side of the street on the left the entire block is the new training facility and corporate headquarters for the LA Rams.

Then, about 4:15, we started getting buzzed by an LAPD helicopter. He was orbiting above, barely clearing the 20-ish story office buildings across the street, and in a TIGHT circle. (Dodging more alien motherships, obviously!)

The problem was directly across the street from us, where there were 6+ LAPD cruisers with someone pulled over in the parking lot outside of the BofA branch and Ruth’s Chris Steak House there. Lots of lights, sirens, a fire truck and ambulance showed up, and the police were pulling folks from a car, putting them on the ground, and handcuffing them.

Tough to get finished up and out the door at the end of the day when there’s a free show going on outside!

 

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Filed under Critters, Disasters, Los Angeles, Photography

January 21, 2025 · 23:58

Go-Bags Of Days Past

Last week we threw together a half-dozen “go bags” as we had a large brush fire lighting off less than two miles from us. We were lucky and it burned away from us (a bit over 1,000 acres) and we never had to evacuate. But we were ready.

Mine are still there because we’ve had one “Red Flag” warning after another for the past two weeks. No more fires near us, but as long as they’re ready, why pack and unpack as needed?

I think by this weekend I’ll be able to put the cameras and laptops back on the shelf, as well as refiling all of the passports, tax returns, birth certificates, and so on.

The three days of “emergency” clothing? Let’s keep that loaded and ready to go, I’ve got plenty of spare shirts, socks, jeans, and whatever.

In the closet we have the five standard family bug out bags (two adults, three kids back in the day) that are filled with FAST evacuation needs, presumably in the event of a major earthquake. Thus the hard hats, whistles, rope, gloves, water, snacks… If the 6-10 brushfire go bags are being tossed willy-nilly into the back of cars as the flames approach, these will be next.

It’s also been a good exercise in thinking about additions and next steps. The world has changed since I first put these bags together. Now I want to make sure that I can re-charge our phones, so some portable batteries, cables, headband LED lights and that sort of thing all need to be added. But I’ll want them all to be fully charged if the shit hits the fan, so I’ll have to find a place to line up five of each, keep them charged 24/7, and then when we get the “GO!” signal, pull them and drop one in each bag.

It’s also given me a chance to think about what’s next if we have ten minutes to bug out instead of three minutes. Boxes of pictures, artwork, signed editions of books, the computer boxes (ignore the monitors and mice and keyboard and anything you can buy in two seconds at Target).

Plan ahead.

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Filed under Critters, Los Angeles, Photography