Destination: California
Hitchens: A Taste of Japan in California
by Eva Holland | 08.05.09 | 5:02 PM ET
In his latest over at Slate, Christopher Hitchens visits a Japanese cultural festival in Palo Alto and makes a nice point about reconciliation in the wake of Pearl Harbor, civilian internment camps and the atomic bomb. What I liked best, though, was his observation about the resilience of cultural events in the face of rising tourist interest. Hitch writes:
There’s a large turnout of non-Japanese for these attractions, getting larger every year it seems to me, but it doesn’t succeed in swamping the main event or in making it into a mere tourist attraction. You come across a group of grave and serious Japanese gardeners, engaged in the judging of a bonsai competition, and you suddenly appreciate that nothing can turn this consideration into a hucksterish sideshow.
(Thanks Frank Bures.)
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Yahoo! BuzzTravel Song of the Day: ‘Lights’ by Journey
by Alicia Imbody | 08.04.09 | 2:17 PM ET
Moon-Gazing Around the Globe
by Alicia Imbody | 08.03.09 | 10:32 AM ET
From Puebla to Paris, 12 photos by moonstruck world travelers
See the full photo slideshow »
Jackson Mourners Still Heading to Neverland
by Eva Holland | 07.31.09 | 1:26 PM ET
Consider my earlier question answered. USA Today reports that “hundreds of fans” are showing up daily at the gates of the secluded ranch. Unsurprisingly, local opinion is split on whether the pilgrimage spot should become an official Graceland-esque attraction. (Via @amybp)
Finding Leonard Cohen in Montreal and California
by Eva Holland | 07.30.09 | 10:03 AM ET
In the latest issue of Geist, Ann Diamond tells the story of her series of near-encounters with Leonard Cohen—with 1970 Montreal, in the midst of the October Crisis, as the grimly compelling backdrop. And if that’s not enough Cohen-related, travel-esque writing for you, check out Pico Iyer’s 1998 essay about visiting the poet/rocker at a Zen Center in the San Gabriel Mountains, outside L.A.
A Trip to Comic-Con in Celebrity Tweets
by Eva Holland | 07.27.09 | 4:06 PM ET
I’ll admit, I’ve never paid much attention to Comic-Con, San Diego’s annual geekfest spectacular. In fact, I’d never even heard of it until the teenage characters on “The O.C.” used it as a pretext for an illicit Tijuana road trip. But for thousands of people from across the U.S., and even around the world, it’s the travel event of the year—and this time around I too found myself following along, through the tweets of my favorite Hollywood celebrities.
Herewith, a brief, vicarious trip through the wacky world of the Con, from departure to exhausted arrival home:
Photo We Love: Surfing Huntington Beach
by Jim Benning | 07.24.09 | 2:33 PM ET
REUTERS/Gene Blevins
Australian Taj Burrow at the recent X-Games finals in Huntington Beach, California.
One of surfing’s biggest events culminates at the Huntington Beach Pier this weekend: The Hurley U.S. Open of Surfing concludes Sunday. Forecasters are predicting some big, tasty waves thanks to a swell from the Southern Hemisphere.
Pink’s Hot Dogs Headed for LAX
by Jim Benning | 07.24.09 | 12:57 PM ET
The iconic Los Angeles hot dog shop, which draws famously long lines and celebs to its historic La Brea location, plans to open an outlet in the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX later this year. “Various accounts have it opening anywhere from late fall to late December,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
It’s always good to see less generic, more local fare in airports. The trend continues.
Taco Trucks and the ‘Mobility Patterns’ of Young Urbanites
by Jim Benning | 07.22.09 | 1:37 PM ET
By now most people have heard of the L.A. Twitter taco truck phenomenon that is Kogi. Well it seems that Kogi’s success has spawned a slew of other food trucks in Southern California, from the Coolhaus ice cream sandwich truck to the Franken Stand hawking vegan sausages.
And the trend is going national, so if you’re in the U.S., look out for a gourmet food truck coming soon to a neighborhood near you.
Today’s Los Angeles Times story on the phenomenon includes an interesting bit of sociology.
Mapped: Literary San Francisco
by Michael Yessis | 07.21.09 | 10:28 AM ET
The San Francisco Chronicle commissioned a beautiful map of San Francisco “composed of some of the very words—from novels, poems and essays—that animate our city.” It’s “loosely inspired” by the literary map of St. Petersburg, Russia, we linked to in February. (via @roncharles)
The Colony of LAX Parking Lot B
by Michael Yessis | 07.20.09 | 4:21 PM ET
Great story in the Los Angeles Times about a community of pilots and other airline workers that lives in trailers and motor homes in a parking lot at Los Angeles International Airport. Dan Weikel writes:
For several years, clusters of RVs were scattered around the airport’s parking lots until LAX officials decided to consolidate them in Lot B. Now operating as an organized camp overseen by the airport, it has an unofficial mayor, a code of conduct and residency requirements, including background checks, regular vehicle inspections and proof of employment at an air carrier.
The constant noise of the airplanes flying overhead would drive me nuts, but the residents of the colony don’t seem to mind. Or maybe they just have good white noise machines, like one of the three residents profiled in the terrific accompanying audio slideshow.
R.I.P. Julius Shulman
by Jim Benning | 07.16.09 | 5:37 PM ET
REUTERS/Fred Prouser/Files The famed Los Angeles architectural photographer died yesterday at his home in Laurel Canyon at the age of 98. Among his most iconic photographs: a shot of Pierre Koenig’ Case Study House #22—the photo within the photo here.
Dwell magazine put it well: “His photography helped define mid-century modernism and no one can claim more credit for documenting, and in some ways inventing, what post-war California cool looked and felt like.”
Pet Airways Begins Flights for Pampered Animals; Humans Still Out of Luck
by Alicia Imbody | 07.15.09 | 12:41 PM ET
Beginning today, Florida-based Pet Airways will fly your critters to and from New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles. The new airline promises that pets will be constantly attended to and treated as first-class “pawsengers,” with rates for one-way flights—for Fido only; you’ll have to book on a regular carrier—starting at $149. Representatives are confident that the high prices are well worth it, offering peace of mind against the “severe emotional and physical harm, even death” that can befall your pet traveling in the cargo hold on human-centric flights.
The airline has even started a blog featuring everything from the latest in-flight pet news to expert tips on keeping fit with your dog on the road.
Osama bin Laden in Indiana: ‘And Just Like That, a Don DeLillo Novel is Born’
by Michael Yessis | 07.01.09 | 4:07 PM ET
Steve Coll breaks the news that Osama bin Laden and his family vacationed in the U.S. for two weeks in 1979, visiting California and Indiana. The details of Coll’s post in the New Yorker come from a forthcoming book by Osama’s first wife.
The DeLillo reference in our headline comes from a related snarky Gawker post. Gawker also asks: “Doesn’t Growing Up bin Laden sound like a great name for a reality show?”
Why not? It certainly would be more interesting than this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Or this.
Man, that’s tiring.
After Michael Jackson: Will Tourists Flock to Neverland Ranch?
by Eva Holland | 06.30.09 | 2:52 PM ET
Photo by Eva Holland Over at This Just In, the inevitable question has been asked: Where will Michael Jackson’s Graceland be? After all, the King of Pop’s fans will need a pilgrimage spot just as badly as the King’s do. JD Rinne offers a few possibilities: the Jackson family hometown of Gary, Indiana; Detroit’s Motown Museum; the Apollo Theater in Harlem; and, of course, Neverland Ranch.