Destination: Los Angeles
Talking Surf Writing in Los Angeles
by Jim Benning | 04.24.08 | 12:42 PM ET
Nice to see surf writing getting some well-deserved attention. The annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books takes place this weekend on the campus of UCLA, and among the many scheduled panels is one entitled “Surf Culture: Shooting the Tube.” Panelists include author and former Surfer magazine editor Steve Hawk and novelist Kem Nunn. Today’s Los Angeles Times has a story that (oddly) speculates on what they might discuss. Also of interest at the festival: “Nonfiction: Blurring Boundaries,” a panel featuring, among others, travel writers and festival regulars Pico Iyer and Tony Cohan. A complete schedule can be found here.
Related on World Hum:
* The Enduring Appeal of ‘The Endless Summer’
Photo by colmsurf via Flickr, (Creative Commons)
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Yahoo! BuzzThe Saints of Los Angeles
by Michael Yessis | 03.12.08 | 9:59 AM ET
There are 103 streets in Los Angeles named after saints, and artist J. Michael Walker has completed “an obsessive quest to locate, research and artistically interpret” all of them, from the iconic (Santa Monica Boulevard) to the private (St. Moritz Drive) to the immortalized in rock music (St. Andrews). It took Walker seven years to complete the project, which is currently on display at the Autry National Center.
R.I.P. Dutton’s Books
by Jim Benning | 02.26.08 | 1:36 PM ET
Sadly, Los Angeles’ beloved literary bookstore, located in Brentwood, plans to close April 30.
High-Speed Train From Southern California to Las Vegas ‘Picking up Steam’
by Michael Yessis | 02.26.08 | 10:13 AM ET
The plans for a high-speed link between Los Angeles to San Francisco make more sense to me. Alas, they’re stalled. So are the plans for a Disneyland to Las Vegas MagLev train. That has given an opening to the DesertXpress, a privately funded high-speed project that seeks to connect Las Vegas with Victorville, California, perhaps best known as the place where, when you’re driving from Los Angeles to Sin City, you can stop off for a Double-Double at In-N-Out.
2007 Travel Movie Awards: Entirely Arbitrary and Non-Comprehensive Picks
by Eva Holland | 02.22.08 | 12:00 PM ET
JetBlue to Launch LAX-JFK Service
by Jim Benning | 02.12.08 | 1:25 PM ET
It’s about time JetBlue began operating out of Los Angeles International. Starting in May, the budget carrier with excellent entertainment options will offer three daily flights from LAX to John F. Kennedy International and one daily flight to Logan International in Boston. Even if you’re not as big of a fan of JetBlue as I am, it’s good news: It could lead to a fare war among other airlines at LAX. JetBlue is expanding service at other Southern California airports, too.
Iconic Hollywood Tower Records Building Faces Wrecking Ball
by Jim Benning | 01.30.08 | 11:40 AM ET
Photo by Alan Light via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
We recently noted the end of the rock ‘n’ roll balconies at Hollywood’s Hyatt “Riot House”—the very balconies where Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant once declared, “I’m a golden god!” Clearly, nothing is sacred in Hollywood.
Tom Petty’s Los Angeles, from a Travelodge to a Long Day in Reseda
by Jim Benning | 01.17.08 | 11:59 AM ET
Photo by SykoSam via Flickr, (Creative Commons).
Living in Southern California, which features prominently in so many pop songs, it’s hard not to develop a soundtrack that reverberates through your head. For me, sweet and melancholy Tom Petty songs are a big part of that. I can’t drive along Mullholland, or on the 101 through the Valley, for example, without hearing “Free Fallin” (“I wanna glide down over Mulholland”) or those lines about the “long day living in Reseda,” with the “freeway running through the yard.” In fact, passing through Reseda, against my better judgment, I always find myself keeping my eye out for that sad house by the freeway.
Why Does Los Angeles’ Metro Rail Stop Two Miles Short of LAX?
by Jim Benning | 01.10.08 | 10:32 AM ET
“I used to believe in conspiracies,” says a former city councilwoman, “until I discovered incompetence.” (Via LAObserved)
Related on World Hum:
* ‘Hey America, Make With the !@~$ High-Speed Rail Already’
In Los Angeles, the Rise of Troubled K-Town
by Jim Benning | 11.21.07 | 10:52 AM ET
I’ve always enjoyed spending time in Los Angeles’ Koreatown. It’s one of those places you can go in the city to immediately feel far, far away from the waspy Westside. But as the L.A. Weekly reported recently, there’s trouble in K-town.
Mexican Rockers Maná Make Los Angeles Arena History
by Jim Benning | 09.20.07 | 8:19 AM ET
Hotfooting Through the Landmarks, From Los Angeles to Athens
by Joanna Kakissis | 09.19.07 | 8:53 AM ET
Local guides around the U.S. are offering urban running tours that point out city landmarks while also giving devoted runners a good workout, writes Bonnie Tsui in The New York Times. New York, Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco all have such tours, which are apparently growing in popularity. Though runners (me included) on vacation have been huffing and puffing on the back roads of new cities for years, their exploring has often been haphazard and befuddling. Who, after all, wants to run while holding a sweaty map?
Joe Bravo’s Tortilla Art on a Roll
by Jim Benning | 08.07.07 | 1:03 PM ET
R.I.P. Rock ‘n’ Roll Balconies at Hyatt ‘Riot House’
by Jim Benning | 08.06.07 | 2:46 PM ET
Reports ‘Laurel Canyon’ author Michael Walker: “The textured concrete balconies (above) from which Led Zeppelin and entourage hurled bottles of Dom Perignon, Zeppelin drummer John Bonham teetered and singer Robert Plant crowed ‘I’m a golden god!’ (immortalized in Cameron Crowe’s ‘Almost Famous’) are being ripped out like so many meth-rotted teeth as part of a $24 million renovation of the property.” The West Hollywood hotel on the Sunset Strip is replacing the balconies with glass that will enclose the rooms. That might be an improvement to the property, but writes Walker: “[I]t’s always mournful when another little piece of L.A.‘s anarchic rock and roll heart is taken away.” The changes are part of a larger trend, Walker e-mails:
In Los Angeles, Among the Stars
by Jim Benning | 07.31.07 | 2:22 PM ET
After reading that actress Drew Barrymore wanted to become a travel writer, South Florida Sun-Sentinel travel editor Thomas Swick wrote a column suggesting he become her mentor. In fact, he thought he’d offer to do just that during a recent visit to Los Angeles. “But soon after that column appeared, I started to have second thoughts,” he confessed Sunday. “Now that I was in L.A. I wanted to find her and tell her to forget travel writing (no future) and ask if she’d give me acting lessons.”