Category: Los Angeles

Sierra Madre starred in the 1956 version of Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, but today you would be hard pressed to find any seed pods.

However, you could argue that the Starbucks just off the city square is a precursor to more sinister Body Snatcher events (The Onion stupidly went to subscription-only for back issues so to route around damage here).

Though the coffee chain’s specific plans are not known, existing Starbucks franchises across the nation have been locked down with titanium shutters across all windows. In each coffee shop’s door hangs the familiar Starbucks logo, slightly altered to present the familiar mermaid figure as a cyclopean mermaid whose all-seeing eye forms the apex of a world-spanning pyramid. Those living near one of the closed Starbucks outlets have reported strange glowing mists, howling and/or cowering on the part of dogs that pass by, and electromagnetic effects that cause haunting, unearthly images to appear on TV and computer screens within a one-mile radius. Experts have few theories as to what may be causing the low-frequency rumblings, half-glimpsed flashes of light, and periodic electronic beeps emanating from the once-busy shops.

Supposedly there was a Sierra Madre tradition that on Halloween the downtown city square would be decorated with seed pods, but I haven’t tracked down anything further. However the nearby LA County Arboretum does invite kids to use “seed pods” in their pumpkin decorating event so apparently eternal vigilance is still needed.

On the plus side the Bean Town Coffee Bar has free wi-fi.

7000 Romaine St. in Hollywood. Site of Howard Hughes‘ old offices.

I absolutely adore Los Angeles and will always defend it from the same stupid attacks that have traditionally been the targeted at it, but recent news items have emphasized just how well, things suck right now. And I’m not just referring to yesterday’s earthquake prediction…

First of all, 1 million people have moved to Southern California in just the past three years. Transportation infrastructure has not increased to match that. You do the math.

The second news story is a heartbreaking story about my beloved Union Station.

For several weeks now, the front parking areas of the station (obscured from Alameda by high hedges) showed the occasional glimpse of heavy equipment. Most people just assumed the parking lots were being repaved or perhaps that an underground garage was in the making.

So it came as quite a jolt to make my twice weekly pass-by the Station before jumping on the 101 onramp on Alameda to see that the south lot had sprouted a three-story (so far) matrix of steel girders! Goodbye, unobstructed view, approaching from the south.

The Downtown News published a story a couple days ago to the effect that the next shocker would be in the north lot, on the southeast corner of Alameda and Cesar Chavez.

A few hundred lucky yuppies with bucks to burn on trendy living spaces and a few more in a just as trendy office building (that’s the best scuttlebutt so far) will have exclusive views of Union Station that used to belong to all of us.

Last week I saw the Anthony Mann double-header of Raw Deal and T-Men at the Egyptian Theater. T-Men specifically was chock full of old vistas of Los Angeles, including Union Station and the Farmer’s Market at 3rd and Fairfax and though there’s obviously been lots of changes over the 50 years, it was remarkable to see what hasn’t changed – including the Union Station area. Sigh…

And in insult to injury, Aaron Spelling discovers LA hipsters ten years too late:

It’s the same old story. Move into a down-on-its-heels neighborhood for cheap rent, boho charm and like-minded camaraderie. Then – WHAM! – gentrification, and the whole vibe starts to change. Next thing you know, Aaron Spelling’s army moves into a house two doors up the street, and Silver Lake, the TV show, is upon you. Please move your car before we tow.

…

The idea for the show, from what I could glean from others on the set, is something along these obtuse and convoluted lines: Main-character guy Dennis, played by Kerr Smith, starts seeing ghosts as a kid, and since no one believes him, he is forced to take medication to prevent these trite and hackneyed cinematic visions from ruining his life too much. He gets older, a family member dies, and our protagonist comes into some money, with which he buys not just a record store but “the No. 1 used-record store” in Silver Lake. Dennis gets a great product-filled haircut and a cool 1970s Citroën which, this being Silver Lake, gets booted all the time (not cool). He goes off the medication, moves in with his twin sister, Julie (Hedy Burress), who also has great hair, and then he starts to see them ghouls again

There’s a hollow voice echoing underneath Southern California and in true Amityville fashion it’s intoning “GET OUT,” “GET OUT” at me.