Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles

1 October 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area, House of the Month, Museums, Exhibitions Reading Time:  12 minutes

The May Company Building, now the Saban Building © Downtowngal/cc-by-sa-4.0

The May Company Building, now the Saban Building © Downtowngal/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is a museum in Los Angeles, California constructed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which is devoted to the history, science, and cultural impact of the film industry. It is the first large-scale museum of its kind in the United States. The museum is located in the historic May Company Building on the intersection Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, part of Museum Row on the Miracle Mile. Originally expected to open in 2020, its completion and opening was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The museum eventually opened to selected celebrity guests on September 25, 2021, and to the general public on September 30. On Thursday, July 14, the museum voluntarily recognized Academy Museum Workers United as the bargaining representative for 160 of its employees.   read more…

Tarzana in Los Angeles

16 September 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area Reading Time:  6 minutes

Mulholland Park Gate © Busition/cc-by-sa-4.0

Mulholland Park Gate © Busition/cc-by-sa-4.0

Tarzana is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Tarzana is on the site of a former ranch owned by author Edgar Rice Burroughs. It is named after Burroughs’ fictional jungle hero, Tarzan. Tarzana, which measures 8.79 square miles (22.8 km²), is bounded on the south by Topanga State Park, on the east by Encino, on the north by Reseda and on the west by Woodland Hills. Victory Boulevard marks the northern edge of the neighborhood, Lindley Avenue the eastern, Corbin Avenue, with a jog to Oakdale Avenue, the western, and Topanga State Park the southern.   read more…

Venice Beach in California

2 September 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area Reading Time:  5 minutes

Sunrise at Venice Beach Pier © flickr.com - Jeff Turner/cc-by-2.0

Sunrise at Venice Beach Pier © flickr.com – Jeff Turner/cc-by-2.0

Venice Beach is part of Venice, a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California.   read more…

Los Angeles Farmers Market

11 February 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area, Bon appétit, Shopping Reading Time:  6 minutes

The Original Farmers Market sign © JS2PR/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Original Farmers Market sign © JS2PR/cc-by-sa-4.0

The Original Farmers Market is an area of food stalls, sit-down eateries, prepared food vendors, and produce markets in Los Angeles, California, California, at the corner of Fairfax Avenue and 3rd Street. First opened in July 1934, it is also a historic Los Angeles landmark and tourist attraction. The Original Farmers Market features more than 100 vendors, including ready-to-eat foods, grocers, and tourist shops, and is located just south of Television City. Unlike most farmers’ markets, which are held only at intervals, The Original Farmers’ Market of Los Angeles is a permanent installation and is open seven days a week. The vendors serve many kinds of food, both American cuisine from local farmers and local ethnic foods from the many immigrant communities of Los Angeles, with many Latin American and Asian cuisines well represented.   read more…

Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles

31 January 2022 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area Reading Time:  9 minutes

Hollywood Walk of Fame © panoramio.com - Mickey Logitmark/cc-by-3.0

Hollywood Walk of Fame © panoramio.com – Mickey Logitmark/cc-by-3.0

Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the west as a winding residential street at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollywood Hills West district. After crossing Laurel Canyon Boulevard, it proceeds due east as a major thoroughfare through Hollywood, Little Armenia and Thai Town to Vermont Avenue. It then runs southeast to its eastern terminus at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district. Parts of the boulevard are popular tourist destinations, primarily the fifteen blocks between La Brea Avenue east to Gower Street where the Hollywood Walk of Fame is primarily located.   read more…

Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles

30 August 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area Reading Time:  8 minutes

Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica © flickr.com - inazakira/cc-by-sa-2.0

Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica © flickr.com – inazakira/cc-by-sa-2.0

Wilshire Boulevard is a 15.83 miles (25.48 km) boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue in the Financial District of downtown Los Angeles. One of the principal east-west arterial roads of Los Angeles, it is also one of the major city streets through the city of Beverly Hills. Wilshire Boulevard runs roughly parallel with Santa Monica Boulevard from Santa Monica to the west boundary of Beverly Hills. From the east boundary it runs a block south of Sixth Street to its terminus. The boulevard was named after Henry Gaylord Wilshire (1861-1927), a landowner, publisher and socialist (only in America: A boulevard that stands for income inequality between the poor (homeless camps) and the super rich like no other in the world is named after a socialist. You can’t help but grin).   read more…

The Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles

19 July 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area, Hotels Reading Time:  8 minutes

© flickr.com - Chris Eason/cc-by-2-0

© flickr.com – Chris Eason/cc-by-2-0

The Millennium Biltmore Hotel, originally the Los Angeles Biltmore of the Bowman-Biltmore Hotels group, is a luxury hotel located opposite Pershing Square in Downtown Los Angeles, California. Upon its grand opening in 1923, the Los Angeles Biltmore was the largest hotel west of Chicago in the United States. In 1969 the Biltmore Hotel was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument by the City of Los Angeles. In 1951, the Los Angeles Biltmore Hotel Company sold to Corrigan Properties for more than $12 million. Regal Hotels purchased the Biltmore in 1996, and then sold it in 1999 to Millennium & Copthorne Hotels. As of 2009, the Los Angeles Biltmore is operated as part of the Millennium & Copthorne Hotels chain as the Millennium Biltmore Hotel. The hotel has 70,000 square feet (6,500 m²) of meeting and banquet space. From its original 1500 guestrooms it now has 683, due to room reorganization. Since 2015, four restaurants and bars serve the hotel, including Smeraldi’s Restaurant (American continental cuisine), newly relaunched Bugis Street Brasserie, the Rendezvous Court, and the Gallery Bar.   read more…

Mulholland Drive in Los Angeles

24 April 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area Reading Time:  7 minutes

© flickr.com - KimonBerlin/cc-by-sa-2.0

© flickr.com – KimonBerlin/cc-by-sa-2.0

Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after pioneering Los Angeles civil engineer William Mulholland. The western rural portion in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties is named Mulholland Highway. The road is featured in a significant number of movies, songs, and novels. David Lynch, who wrote and directed a film named after Mulholland Drive, has said that one can feel “the history of Hollywood” on it. Academy Award–winning actor Jack Nicholson has resided at Mulholland Drive for many years and still lives there today.   read more…

San Fernando Valley in California

23 April 2021 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General, Greater Los Angeles Area Reading Time:  12 minutes

Mission San Fernando Rey de España © Geographer/cc-by-2.5

Mission San Fernando Rey de España © Geographer/cc-by-2.5

The San Fernando Valley, known locally as The Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located just north of the Los Angeles Basin, the valley incorporates part of the City of Los Angeles, as well as the incorporated cities of Burbank and San Fernando. The valley is well known for its iconic film studios such as Warner Bros. Studio and Walt Disney Studios. In addition, it is home to the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park.   read more…

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