sha in LA

i see hawks (on a weekly basis)

The infamous "country-rock" band that myself and quite a few others love so much known as I See Hawks in L.A. have taken up a Monday night residency at The Echo. Start times vary by week it looks like so check ahead if you happen to have a particularly busy schedule.

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work, theatre, sleep, repeat

If I seem a bit out of it regarding current affairs in and around this town for the next month here's why. As I was perusing my schedule for the upcoming month I discovered a few things that I'd like to share with the group.

There are 33 days until I get on a plane and head to Florida for the holidays, 22 of those will be spent at the theatre and that is in addition to my Monday through Friday 9-6 day job. During the first 18 days of December I will be at the theatre 15 of those days, again, in addition to the day job.

If I can make it to December 26th with my sanity I will be one happy girl.

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the glory of .99 theatre

Since the kids over at BloggingLA decided to plug their favorite annual Holiday Show I thought I'd do the same.

The evidEnce room puts on a Holiday themed musical every season however these shows have a little twist in them...they are proudly sponsored by the .99 Cent Only stores and are completely designed and costumed by items found in the treasure trove of stores. This year's theme, Western!!! Direct from the website:

Ken Roht's Route 99: Orange Star Dinner Show

For the 4th year in a row Ken Roht, surrealist impresario, returns to the Evidence Room with a new 99 Cent Only musical! Once again Ken creates a brand new musical extravaganza of plastic and fun. This time setting the festivities in a Wyoming dinner theater. Come on down and enjoy Orange Star’s hospitality and delicious home cookin’. Again, John Ballinger is co-composer (with Roht) and arranger. Ann Closs-Farley and Keith Mitchell are back to head a team of Los Angeles' most creative designers to whip up western glamour out of pool toys, plastic tablecloths, kitchen utensils and anything else that can be found on a shelf at the 99Cent Only Stores!! This year’s talented cast includes returnees from 99Cents Shows past and new players to add spice to what we’re serving up.

Or just go here to view the complete details such as Dinner Menu (if you opt to go that route) and Cast.

It's truly a visual sight to behold. And damn funny too!

GO!

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pershing square on the rocks

It's that time of year again, where us Angelenos break out the mittens and scarves and strap on the ice skates and take a spin around the newly erected Ice Rink in Pershing Square. Never mind the fact that the weather will hit a high of around 80º this week, there's an "ice technician" who makes sure that the ice stays ice and doesn't turn into a puddle. Something tells me he probably gets paid the big bucks on this project.

The ice rink opens this coming Thursday November 17th and will be open every day (yes, every day) until January 16th. That's a whole 2 months to go get your skate on. You can go during the day or better yet at night, when all the beautiful Downtown buildings are lit up! Such a wonderful sight!

GO!

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a mini tour of the world

mmmm. Eat-A-Pita. Good eats before a few hours spent at the Kibitz Room.

Afterwards I encountered what had to have been the ultimate melting pot of Los Angeles....the mobs of people heading home after an apparent Rolling Stones concert at the Hollywood Bowl. Who knew I'd have to be concerned with Bowl traffic in November??!!?? People get all pissed off and shit when they get stuck in the middle of the intersection at Franklin and Highland for 2 light cycles...I know well from experience....

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who's on second?

Although technically not a loft or conversion...I guess I should update that category...Artisan on Second is one of the newest players in the "for sale condominium community" known as Downtown Los Angeles. Specifically, Little Tokyo to be exact. At the beginning of this year I spent a number of Saturday afternoons in Little Tokyo and wondered what was being built at the corner of 2nd and Hewitt. Knowing that generally new construction in Downtown is usually reserved for either residences or government buildings I figured it was the former. Today as I was perusing the Downtown News I spotted a perky orange and green advert with funky graphics touting the newest and coolest spot to call home and decided to investigate further. The website gives all the usual basics...renderings of potential units, floor plans and the such. Yup, looks like all the other sites out there. Seen one, seen 'em all. That's one of the reasons why I'm still holding out for a conversion....like the El Dorado. The bones of that building speak to me. In more ways than one...

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wilshire, wilshire, wilshire

Who's a happy girl??!!??

ME!!!

Who just got Wilshire Boulevard: Grand Concourse of Los Angeles delivered in the mail today??

ME!!!

Who wishes she had an entire day to devote to reading and devouring every inch of this incredible book???

OK, I guess you get the idea. Seriously though. It's not because J. Eric Lynxwiler is one of my bestest friends or because I have special thanks in the back of the book (BTW, it's Simonds not Simmons). It's because the photographs that have been selected are amazing and I'm positive that the historical content is accurate and compelling to any lover of this great city. I get an odd thrill at learning more about how this city grew and evolved through the years and this book is sure to enlighten it's readers in that respect.

You can purchase the book through any number of outlets. Do a little google search, find the company you prefer giving buisness to and ENJOY!

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curbed in LA

It's always a pleasure getting linked up to other blogs around town. Kinda like the whole picking players for your game of touch football thing. The other day I had read on a number of other blogs about the emergence of Curbed LA. Direct from their website, their description is as follows:

From the studio lots to the downtown lofts. From the beachfront bungalows to the canyon views. From the south bay to the valley, from the westside to the eastside—Angelenos' sense of place, and the neighborhoods they call home, are more important than ever.

I perused the site and found it nicely entertaining and informative and promptly bookmarked it...then, low and behold I noticed that my little blog is linked in their "Neighborhood Blogs" section. YAY! I take pride in being linked up and now feel a bit of pressure to continue writing interesting and appropriate postings. Way to keep me on my toes Curbed LA. Hopefully I won't let you and your link-through readers down.

Now I must go and think up inspiration for my next post.....

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conversing about conversions

With all the conversions and new development going on Downtown there are certain buildings that continue to sit vacant. Many theories have been presented to me as to why, ranging from absentee owners from other countries receiving tax breaks to the issue of not having adequate parking spaces as required by law. Here are 3 properties which I believe, at least in my pedestrian way of thinking, to be ripe for conversion.

Hotel Clark sits on the corner of 4th and Hill Street directly across from the newly converted Metro 417 and a Pershing Square Metro entrance. This building has sat vacant for a number of years and I have randomly heard rumors of some sort of conversion in the works but that hasn't happened. It was sold a few years ago but still, no sign of life anywhere. Actually this would be a great urban exploration building, ifyouknowwhatimean.

The Garfield Building sits on the corner of 8th and Hill Street directly next to the Golden Gopher and across the street from the soon to be converted Union Lofts. In the early 1990's about 9.3 million dollars was pumped into the building to spruce it up however to my knowledge is mostly vacant these days.

On the same block but up towards 8th and Olive is the old Commercial Exchange building that has a neon sign that Eric Lynxwiler covets every time we walk and or drive by.

If you want to look at great pictures of buildings downtown you should check out You-Are-Here.com. The color photographs above are from that fabulous site. The black and white photo is from another wonderful resource, the Los Angeles Public Library.

As I said earlier, I don't know all the legal ramifications concerning converting older structures but the 3 buildings that I listed are in great areas that are beginning to see a major upswing. I hope that developers looking at possible conversions at least consider these buildings and if anyone has concrete information on the issue of converting said properties I'd love to hear feedback.

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walk this way

It's that time again...time to promote the 2 walking tours that I'm scheduled for this month.

First up, on Saturday November 12th at 10am I will be giving a USC Tour. This is quickly becoming one of my favorites as it is a beautiful campus and the connection the school has to the growth of the city is very apparent. It helps if you take this tour after you've done the Historic Core tour as there is considerable overlap in architects although that is certainly not a requirement.

Next, on Saturday November 26th (Thanksgiving weekend) AND December 10th at 10am I will be giving the Historic Core Tour. This is by far my favorite tour to give and with each outing I proclaim said tour to be my "best yet." Brilliance is difficult but somehow I manage. Joke. That was a joke people. I'm not THAT self centered....sheesh.

Here I am in action.

If you're interested in signing up follow this link to the Los Angeles Conservancy's website. See you on the streets!

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