It’s that time of year again. The 2009 LA County Fair took advantage of the Labor Day weekend to open its doors. Opening Day is always exciting because you get to see everything so fresh. The fair will run until October 4th, so you have plenty of time to pick the best day to visit.
The Fair is offering $1 admission Sept. 5 – 7 between 10am and 1pm. That means, tomorrow is your last chance to take advantage of this deal. Throughout the park, there are other cost-saving deals for the Labor Day Weekend, such as $1 fountain drinks between 1pm and 4pm and $1 carnival rides between 4pm and 7pm.
This year, we spent a lot less time eating and drinking and more time walking the fairgrounds. I’ve only missed 3 years since 1984, and used to go up to 3 times a week in college. This was the first time I had realized that there is an NHRA museum and a train museum run by the LA chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society on site. Be sure to check them out. The NHRA museum has $1 entrance and with so much to look at, including the original Batmobile from the 1966 Batman TV show, it’s well worth it.
Also, worth catching is the Jursassic Planet exhibit (I have video in my Flickr photos linked below). It’s educational and just plain cool watching the dinosaurs move. If you have young ones, they may want to stay outside the hall. My three year old did not enjoy being in there and most little kids did a lot of screaming. As always, the new baby animals are a treat as are all the wonderful insects and reptiles on display in three different sections of the fairgrounds this year. The Home & Garden theme this year is Gateway to Africa and even I have to admit to being impressed. This is the first year in a long, long time that the theme was unified and tight, from the greenhouse all the way to the top of the hill.
So, wear some comfy shoes, get some sunscreen and have fun at the Fair. If you want to live vicariously for the moment, you can visit my flickr set.
Patriot Guard Rider, honoring a fallen hero. Photo by Burns!
“Standing For Those Who Stood For Us.”
That is the motto of the Patriot Guard Riders. The Patriot Guard is a diverse group of motorcycle riders from all over the United States, with a particularly active chapter here in Los Angeles (and surrounding counties.) From the Patriot Guard Riders’ mission statement:
“Our main mission is to attend the funeral services of fallen American heroes as invited guests of the family. Each mission we undertake has two basic objectives :
1. Show our sincere respect for our fallen heroes, their families and their communities.
2. Shield the mourning family and their friends from interruptions created by any protestor or group of protestors.”
I first learned of the PGR when researching Fred Phelps’ Westboro Baptist Church (most famous for being the Christians hateful bigots who carry signs that say “God hates fags.”) It turns out that Phelps & co. also protest military funerals with signs such as “God loves IEDs” and “God loves dead Marines.” Can you imagine anything more hurtful to a grieving family?
You don’t have to ride a motorcycle. Join me after the jump to learn more about the PGR and how you can get involved. (more…)
At first I thought I had found ways around car-choked areas in Los Angeles by finally learning alternate routes. Wrong. As it turns out, rising unemployment coupled with businesses closing has led to an easing in traffic congestion, according to a new study by the Texas Transportation Institute.
Don’t get too happy about this. The study also notes the Los Angeles area still has the suckiest traffic in the nation. But if you continue to apply the when-life-hands-you-lemons-make-lemonade logic, that means we’re still number one!
If you are into 3D photography and, or stereoscopy in general, come out to the Stereo Club of Southern California (SCSC) TONIGHT, Thursday June 18th at 7:30 in Pasadena. They will screening the winners of the club’s annual 3D film and video competition.
Besides film and photography exhibitions, SCSC hosts field trips and educational workshops. There is a real sense of community in the club with knowledge exchange, collaborations, and socialization.
Formed in 1955, SCSC is one of the most active and prolific 3D collectives in the country. It is also a fairly progressive organization in that it has embraced digital technology in a way that many other groups haven’t yet. Members range from enthusiasts to novices (such as yours truly) to professional 3D photographers and filmmakers. Six times a year, you can submit photos for competition in which judging occurs on the spot. Getting the instantaneous feedback provides a great learning experience.
The Stereo Club of Southern California meets every third Thursday at The Armory Center for the Arts located at 145 N. Raymond, Pasadena, CA 91103. Guests are always welcome!
On the Inability of a French Post-Modernist to Enjoy the Magic Kingdom
At least once every 365 days, I take some time out of my life to visit Disneyland. This week, I journeyed back into Magic Kingdom to exploit the fruits of a free birthday pass (I turned 14), and titillate my insatiable addiction to churro smell (not taste). So, while wandering around the all-too-real reality of Disneyland’s stroller-pushing, teenaged mothers and churro-eating masses, I, of course, remembered the words of my, and undoubtedly your, favorite postmoderist, poststructuralist Frenchie philosopher, Jean Baudrillard:
Disneyland is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe that the rest is real, when in fact all of Los Angeles and the America surrounding it are no longer real, but of the order of the hyperreal and of simulation.
The late Baudrillard apparently had a complicated time at D-Land–he even calls the parking lot a concentration camp– but he penned this (perhaps pretentiously) hilarious treatise on the why Disneyland is, like, soooo PoMo. I’ve posted the short excerpt from Simulacra and Simulations after the jump. If only Baudrillard was able to experience fully the Russian doll, So-Cal microcosm of California Adventure…
Got some free time on your hands next weekend and feel like helping out at a great event? The Southern California chapter of Special Olympics is holding its 40th Annual Summer Games at Cal State Long Beach Saturday and Sunday, June 13th and 14th. There are multiple volunteer opportunities, some general, others sports-specific. Of course, monetary donations are accepted.
I have a younger brother with a disability who inspired me to go into a career in which I work with that population. Unfortunately, I don’t get to see him compete in Special Olympics very often, so I feel like I have a long distance connection by getting involved here in Los Angeles County. I’ll be there again this year with a group of other do-gooders (and our registered therapy dogs) to meet and greet athletes and their families. Our presence has been appreciated and enjoyed in the past. It really is a fun time!
The Summer Games will take place June 13th and 14th at Cal State Long Beach, 250 Bellflower Blvd, Long Beach, CA 90840. Click here for a list of events, which are free and open to the public. There is also no charge for parking. I’ll be on Sunday because there is no way I’m missing the LA Hot Dog Death March! I hope to see you in Long Beach and scarfing down some wieners in L.A. the day before!
In 1994 I was single and living in a studio apartment in Santa Monica when the Northridge Earthquake hit. Santa Monica got hit pretty hard considering its distance from Northridge, many houses came off their foundations and one apartment building two blocks from me had a gas leak and explosion minutes after the earthquake struck. (Thankfully due to the MLK holiday, none of the tenants were home at the time.)
And how well prepared was I for the earthquake? I had one small maglight flashlight IN MY CAR. That’s it. So in the pitch dark — and you know what I mean by how dark it was at 4:30 in the morning with a lot of power out throughout the city — I found shoes and went to my car to get the flashlight. After that day I was only slightly better prepared: I kept water in my car and bought many more flashlights to keep around the apartments I lived in.
Since we got married 8 years ago, my husband and I have been keeping a fairly decent earthquake kit in our easy to get to storage area and after all the recent shaking we pulled it all out and refreshed it. The photo above is of the supply box and the small blue bin behind it has our foodstuffs. We wrote down a few more things we needed and I have been perusing Sean and Jason’s Urban Journal website for additional ideas.
I would love for you all to share things you have your kits, items you have in your cars, what you keep by your bedside. I would love recommendations on hand crank/solar flashlights and radios. Tell me what oddball things you keep in those boxes, just in case.
Click through the jump to see photos from Santa Monica damage in 94 as well as a sample of our foodstuffs and a more complete list of things in our supply box.
As April is coming to an end, we head on into May — nationally designated as Asian Pacific Islander (API) Heritage Month. API Heritage month commemorates and recognizes the diversity of API languages and cultures and celebrates of the achievements and contributions of API communities in America. In that spirit, 8Asians (another blog I contribute to) is celebrating Asian Americans in the arts with an “Asian American Arts Stimulus Package” giveaway (deadline: Friday at noon) to one lucky winner who will be the recipient of a pair of tickets to THREE amazing events in the L.A. area. Although you’re free to enter the giveaway, I wanted to note that just about all these shows have availability for low-priced tickets, too.
Visual Communications, the nation’s premier Asian Pacifc American media arts center, established the Los Angeles Asian Pacifc Film & Video Festival in 1983 as a vehicle to promote Asian and Asian Pacifc American cinema. The Festival has grown from its humble beginnings as a weekend-long series into a major annual showcase presenting the best of Asian Pacifc American and Asian international media in the United States. As of 2008, the Film Festival is known by its permanent iteration The Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
A Census agent exposes a family’s perverse, hidden secret…A desperate loser turns to experimental surgery to seduce his high school crush…A happy homemaker struggles against an ancient evil that lurks in plain sight…A controlling psychologist must protect his life’s love from her memories. Lodestone kicks off its final season with four twisted one-acts touching on the bizarre and unnatural. It’s been ten years… Time to pay.
MARRY ME A LITTLE: A compilation of songs, composed by Stephen Sondheim for many of his Broadway musicals but for various reasons didn’t make it into the final stage, are woven into a simple tale of two lonely people during one evening in their small, one-bedroom apartments. Featuring Mike Dalager & Jennifer Hubilla
THE LAST FIVE YEARS: There are two sides to every story…Jamie and Cathy’s 5-year old relationship is coming to an end, and through the funny , sweet and heart-breaking songs, you hear both versions of what happened–from beginning to end, and from the end to beginning. Featuring Michael K. Lee & Jennifer Paz
Over the years, I’ve attended events put on by each of these organizations and always come out feeling lucky that L.A. has such a vibrant Asian American arts scene. Why not take some time out in the month of May to do something for API Heritage Month, like attending one of the shows listed above? If you do, I’d love to hear what you think.
Originally released in Los Angeles in 1965, it never took off on the charts. A few weeks later when it was re-released in Boston it started climbing in popularity, and was rumored to be responsible for hundreds heading to LA at the thought of summer in January. “California Dreaming” eventually reached #4 on the charts in early 1966.
The Mamas and the Papas had a tumultuous history, largely (no pun intended) due to the drama with singer Cass Elliot. Sadly, after a particularly great performance that ended with ovations, she died quietly of a heart attack in her hotel room. (Yes, the “choking on a ham sandwich” is just cruel urban myth). (more…)
I Will, I Will Mock You Verdell Wilson OK, igetrad. You win. No contest. igetrad red line a few years back. saw a dude with his shirt pulled up under his chin furiously picking away at scabs... girlvaughn Flossing. seriously. So disgusting. Also – agree with nail clippers. The sound of it makes me gag.
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At first I thought I had found ways around car-choked areas in Los Angeles by finally learning alternate routes. Wrong. As it turns out, rising unemployment coupled with businesses closing has led to an easing in traffic congestion, according to 
In 1994 I was single and living in a studio apartment in Santa Monica when the Northridge Earthquake hit. Santa Monica got hit pretty hard considering its distance from Northridge, many houses came off their foundations and one apartment building two blocks from me had a gas leak and explosion minutes after the earthquake struck. (Thankfully due to the MLK holiday, none of the tenants were home at the time.)
