In Our Own Backyard

Sometimes it takes someone from out of town to show you what you are missing in your own backyard.

Esotouric (the folks who do the great crime and literary L.A. tours) did a special, one-off bus tour of the Antelope Valley and Kim and I were invited to go along. Sadly, Kim couldn't make it, being both under the weather and overworked. (I know, how is this a date when I'm missing the most important component of a date - the wife?)

The Antelope Valley Indian Museum.

The tour, in honor of Esotouric co-founder Richard Schave's birthday, was hitting the Western Hotel in Lancaster, the Indian Museum in Lake Los Angeles, and the Ripley preserve in the western AV. I was able to tag along for two of the three attractions - Ripley will wait for another day.

Let me say upfront that the Western Hotel  is not a destination attraction by any means. However, it's worth a visit if you happen to be in the area (it's located at 557 West Lancaster Blvd). It's only open on the second and fourth Friday and Saturday of each month, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is free.

Schave described it has having a "great collection of 1900s Americana" and "being one of the most visible links Lancaster has to its heritage."

Built in the 1880s, the hotel is the oldest surviving building in Lancaster. Speculators, travelers, mule skinners and British lords are among the guests who used the hotel. Between 1905 and 1913, construction crews of the Los Angeles-Owens River Aqueduct were housed at the hotel. 

The cost to stay at the hotel was once $1 per night.

I suspect, but cannot prove, that it was also used by the crew of Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 The Ten Commandments. DeMille shot the chariot race scene on nearby Rogers dry lake bed. I saw a 1923 newspaper article that mentioned two merchants being rousted out of bed at 4 o'clock on a Sunday morning by DeMille's people seeking bread.

The hotel fell into disrepair in the 1970s, but was rescued by the Western Hotel Historical Society and other concerned residents and reopened as a museum in 1988. 

Some of the campaign items used to save the hotel.

The museum is now listed as California Historic Landmark 658.

In front of the hotel is a monument erected in 1999 to honor the Tuskegee Airmen. Also nearby is one of the granite "Aerospace Walk of Honor" monuments, honoring Edwards Air Force Base test pilots. For those unfamiliar with our humble town, there many such monuments up and down the boulevard, honoring such aviation greats as Chuck Yeager and Neil Armstrong.

Prior to the Esotouric tour, I had been at the Western Hotel once in my 25 years of living in this valley. I had no idea the Tuskegee airmen monument even existed, despite the fact I've driven by the hotel literally hundreds of times.

This was a nice gesture by the city.

The Antelope Valley Indian Museum blew my mind. I hadn't been there in over 20 years and I had forgotten what a marvel it is. 

It is a folk art wonderland inside of a Tudor-revival chalet built in and around a rock formation.The house has seven different roof elevations. The boulders of Piute Butte serve as the floor of the upper floor, a staircase, and as the walls of the rear portion of the house.

The museum was created by Indiana-born Howard Arden Edwards, a self-taught artist, anthropologist and lover of Native American culture, according to our local newspaper. Edwards was also a theatrical set painter, a college instructor, and a daredevil and circus clown.

He acquired the property under the Homestead Act and in 1928 began building a home among the boulders of Piute Butte.

One of the ceiling panels.

The upper floor was dubbed the Antelope Valley Indian Research Museum, an area where Edwards displayed his collection of prehistoric and historic American Indian artifacts. According to the museum's website, Edwards interpreted his items in a way that he thought would be instructive and entertaining for visitors. Some of his imaginative descriptions can still be seen in displays in the museum's upper gallery, now called California Hall.

California Hall.

While his collecting methods were, to be polite, controversial, Edwards did amass a remarkable collection.

You can see how the home was built on the rock cropping.

In 1939, Grace Wilcox Oliver bought the home. Oliver added to the collection and turned some of the rooms into exhibit areas. It's my understanding - and if anyone knows different, please let me know - that Edwards came back and provided additional art work for the museum during Oliver's tenure as owner. It's also my understanding that the museum was, briefly, a dude ranch at one point.

 The museum would eventually become part of the state park system in 1979. Schave credits Edra Moore, the museum's first state employee, and current curator Peggy Ronning for turning the site from "curiosity roadside attraction into a proper state museum."

"The museum really is a work of art," Schave said.

Here's how the museum's website describes its collection: "In the 1980s, the State Parks designated the museum as a regional Indian museums, representing the cultures of the western Great Basin (east and southeast of the Sierra Nevada Mountains). Material culture from local archaeological discoveries is occasionally added to the collections."

One must have the right neck wear for a wooing.

In won't be another 20 years before I go back. In fact, I might be back there on Dec. 14. The museum is hosting "Holidays on the Homestead" from 5 to 8 p.m. that evening. The museums' website says the event is an "old-time country holiday celebration" The event is expected to include a chili cook-off, a country craft boutique, homestead-era holiday décor, and cowboy songs and poetry performed around a blazing bonfire.

Again, from the website: Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for ages 6-12, and ages 5 and under are free. Only cash or checks will be accepted for event admission and boutique purchases. The event is a fundraiser for the non-profit Friends of the Antelope Valley Indian Museum, which is helping to keep the museum open.

 The museum is located in northeastern Los Angeles County. It is 17 miles east of the Antelope Valley Freeway (State Highway 14), on Avenue M, between 150th and 170th Street East. Go East on Avenue K or Palmdale Boulevard and follow the signs to the museum. Or exit Pearblossom Highway (138) at 165th Street East and travel North.

(as you're going down 150th, you might notice a gas station and cafe that kind of looks familiar. That's Club Ed, a film set that's been used in scores of TV shows, movies, and commercials)

The Antelope Valley Indian Museum is open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Admission is $3 for adults (cash or checks only).

Cars and Coca Cola

Sorry about the delay, but various commitments and ailments have kept me away - and right as I was promising more posts. Sigh. One way to guarantee you won't write is to promise you will. As Yoda would say, do or do not. There is no try.

Here's a couple cheapies, but goodies, for you.

A while back, Kim and I visited the Nethercutt Museum, which has an amazing collection of vintage cars. The Nethercutt, located in Sylmar, has two buildings - the museum and the collection, which has very limited days and hours and can only be seen through a guided tour. We're saving the collection for another day.

According the Nethercutt's website, the museum showcases more than 130 of the world’s greatest antique, vintage, classic and special interest automobiles including many top winners of the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Among the treasures spanning four floors in the collection’s original facility is one of the world’s most outstanding assortments of beautifully restored antique, classic automobiles. They are showcased in an exquisite re-creation of an opulent automotive grand salon of the 1920's and 1930's. An amazing collection of automobile mascots, antique furniture, clocks and watches, and one of the world's finest collections of Mechanical Musical Instruments are displayed in our music room.

A 1955 Austin Healey

The collection was created by J.B Nethercutt, who made his fortune working with his aunt, the founder of Merle Norman Cosmetics.

The collection began in 1956 with the purchase of two cars: a 1936 Duesenberg Convertible Roadster for $5,000, and a 1930 DuPont Town Car for $500, both needing total refurbishing. According to the collection website, Nethercutt ending up taking 18 months and spending over $65,000 to restore the DuPont Town Car. The car would claim the "Best of Show" award at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

The Duesenberg and the DuPont are still part of The Nethercutt Collection.

I wonder if this MG ran better than my wife's car.

Nethercutt opened the museum in 1971, which has been free to the public since its opening. Nethercutt died in 2004 at age 91. The collection website quotes Nethercutt as having said: “The recognition and preservation of beauty has been a major focus of my life. It would suit me well if what people remembered about me was, ‘Where he went, he left beauty behind.’”

I'm no gear head, but I can appreciate beauty and elegance in design. Many of these vehicles are simply stunning. There is also a collection of hood ornaments.

 The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The museum does have reduced holiday hours. It will be closed from Nov. 28 through Dec. 2 and again from Dec. 22 to Jan. 6.

The collection will also be closed on those dates. The viewing of the collection is available Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at 10 am. or 1:30 p.m. They recommend make reservations well in advance.

The museum is located at 15151 Bledsoe Street in Slymar. The collection building is right across the street. Visit their website or call (818) 364-6464 for more information.

El Grande de Coca Cola

Not long ago, Kim was telling about a date she had in the 1970s when she saw a comedy called El Grande de Coca Cola at the Roxy. The date was less than satisfying, but the show was fantastic, she said. Almost by magic, a couple of days later I saw discount tickets for a new production of that show by the Ruskin Group Theatre at the Santa Monica Airport.

I snagged a couple of comp tickets ($14 with service charge. Really, Goldstar? $7 a ticket service charge on comps?). With a glass of wine each at the show, our date came to $25.

Set somewhere south of the border, El Grande is about a family putting on an "international" variety show. It features Senor Don Pepe Hernandez (Ron House, who actually appeared in the original run in 1973), in a hairpiece that looks like a small mammal, as the emcee. The troupe is comprised of his family - two man-seeking daughters (Lila Dupree and Nina Brissey) and his two nephews (Aaron Jackson, a rubber-faced actor who reminded me of a young Peter Lorre, and David Lago, an Emmy winner from the soap The Young and the Restless).

The show is a fast-paced, broad slapstick comedy conducted in cognate Spanish. If you don't like physical comedy, stay away. It is 75 minutes of absolute silliness. Afterward, my cheeks hurt from laughing so much.

Hopefully, that date was much more satisfying than her first at that show.

As of this writing, Goldstar has discount tickets ranging from comp to $12.50 for shows on Dec. 6 and Dec. 7.

Halloween and L.A. at Great Heights

Our latest date was a mix of splurges and freebies. And it was quintessentially L.A.

The view from the 34th floor of the Bonaventure

Kim and I had planned to spend Halloween night at the Cicada Club from the moment we heard they were throwing a party. We decided to build a long weekend around the event.

For our base, we chose the Biltmore, just up Olive Street from Cicada and the hotel where we spent our honeymoon. We love the Biltmore, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary. If you're looking for a spectacular room, this is not the hotel for you. If you looking for history, for beauty, and, for the lack of a better term, "L.A.-ness," the place to go is the Biltmore.

The Biltmore has hosted prohibition bashes, the Academy Awards,  presidents, and the Beatles. Its been featured in scores of movies and TV shows. In fact, of the three times we've stayed their, there was filming on two visits, the first was for the TV show 24 and this time Pierce Brosnan and Selma Hayek were there filming a movie called How to Make Love Like an Englishman.

We were able to use hotels.com to get a room for $160 a night. Had I acted sooner, I could have gotten the room for $120, but I waited to pull the trigger. Lesson One: be ready to act when you see a deal.

One other quick word on the Biltmore and rates. The second time we went there, we took advantage of their "Now, Then, and Again" package which included an afternoon tea and a walking tour of the hotel offered by the L.A. Conservancy. I mention this because the package is being offered now starting at $200. The Victorian Tea alone is $45 a person. The package is only good for Saturday night stays. Definitely worth considering.

A great place to see the lights is the 34th floor lounge

After Kim finished teaching her last class of the week, we headed to downtown L.A. and checked in. After a quick nap, it was off to the party. Cicada, once again, was awesome. The idea was this was a Halloween party in the 1930s. Most people got the idea and ran with it. Costumes included Charlie Chaplin, an aviator whose date came as the airplane, Cleopatra, a newsie (who held onto his newspapers all night long), Gomez and Morticia (the comic debut in '38 so it was in keeping with the theme), Bonnie and Clyde, and a 30s movie director.

We opted to go Venetian Carnival this year.

A few people didn't quite get the idea, like the greaser, the Star Trek guy (we can let him slide because the band's bass player was dressed in Spock ears and had a Star Fleet emblem on his shirt), and a couple that looked like they came off the set of Mad Men (they got a pass too because they had the look down and were freakin' beautiful). You can see some of the costumes on this video on Vimeo.

I won't go into detail on the party. You can check my earlier post on Cicada to get a feel for the night.

 After sleeping in Friday morning, we headed out to Grand Park to see the altars set up for Dia de los Muertos. There is almost always something going on in Grand Park and that something is always free. During the week, the park offers yoga classes, lunchtime concerts, and, on Tuesdays, a farmers market. Their next major event there is a New Year's Day celebration, but they do keeping adding to the calendar.

After viewing the altars, we made our way to City Hall. The public entrance is on the Main Street. After going through security and getting visitor stickers, we took an express elevator to the 22nd floor and then caught another to the 26th floor, which has portraits of the city's mayors going back decades.

Up one more floor is the main attraction - an observation deck. On this particular day, the air quality was fairly good, allowing us to see almost to the ocean. If you're downtown on a weekday, this is something you need to check out.

After lunch, we headed back to the Biltmore for a swim. The Biltmore's pool was modeled after the luxury ocean liners of the day. There is beautiful tile work depicting mermaids and Neptune.

Our dinner was a bit of splurge, but the setting is one of the most romantic in all of Los Angeles - the revolving cocktail lounge on the 34th floor of the Bonaventure. We arrived about a half hour before sunset and then enjoyed a leisurely meal while watching the sunset and then the lights of the city coming on as night arrived.

My little mermaid

As I said, it was a bit of splurge. A small pizza, fries, and a couple of beers apiece set us back (with tip) nearly $80. But remember, you are paying for the setting and the sights.

So there's two great ways to see the city from great heights - the City Hall observation deck for free and the revolving 34th floor cocktail lounge, which could set you back quite bit depending on what you eat and drink.

Love the tiles and colors of the Biltmore pool

Our long weekend ended on Saturday with a visit to Olvera Street, which was packed for Dia de los Muertos festivities. We came, however, to see the America Tropical mural.

The mural was painted by David Alfaro Siqueiros, described by the people at the mural's interpretive center as being an artist who believed wanted his work to be reflective of the environment where it was created.

He had been commissioned to paint a tropical scene, which everyone thought would a tranquil scene. What Siqueiros painted was a crucified Indian peasant surmounted by an American eagle. It generated outrage and within a couple of years it was given a whitewashing. A few years later another coating of whitewash was applied.

The view from the observation platform.

In 1988, the Getty Conservation Institute and the City of Los Angeles began an effort to revive the mural. It was only just last fall that the mural was seen by the public for the first time since the 1930s. The whitewash has slowly been removed. Lacking color photographs of what the mural looked like, it was not repainted. What you see is Siqueiros' original work.

What it looked like in the 30s

Admission to the mural is free, but the interpretive center hours are limited to 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday. The interpretive center is in the Sepulveda House, 125 Paseo de La Plaza.

Hollywood Bites

For our very first Hollywood tour, Kim and I decided to eat our way across the sights.

We spent a recent Saturday on Sites and Bites, a food tour of Hollywood offered by TOURific Escapes. Trish Procetto and her husband Matt Rubenstein own the company. Both had lost their jobs during the recession (he was a corporate pilot; she worked for Mattel) and have since re-invented themselves as tour guides.

Trish, talking about the prints at Gauman Chinese Theater

“I want out guests to feel like they have been taken care of for four hours,” Trish said.

The tour group met in the Roosevelt Hotel, built in 1927 and financed by a group that included Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Louis B. Mayer. The hotel was the site of the very first Academy Awards in 1929. It was also the home for a couple of years of Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn supposedly still haunts the hotel.

The hotel’s pool was the site of Marilyn’s first magazine shoot. Today, the pool is popular with young hard bodies. If you want to stroke your libido – or feel bad about your body – go check out the pool.

We start out on foot, crossing Hollywood Boulevard to visit Grauman’s Chinese Theater (technically, it is now called the TCL Chinese Theater). I’ve been by this place dozens of times, but never stopped to look at all the names, handprints, and footprints in the cement in front of the theater.

One for the Potter fans.

The prints include the bare feet of Shirley Temple, the droid footprints of R2D2 and 3CPO, an inscription from Humphrey Bogart that reads “Sid may you never die till I kill you,” the horseshoes of Trigger, and the glasses of Harold Lloyd.

The area is filled with people dressed as characters from movies or as movie stars, hustling bucks from tourists wanting a photo. I hear the going rate is $5 a shot. I heard one family got snookered for $20. I prefer just to watch. One of the odd sites of that day was seeing Chewbacca walking into the coffee shop across the street.

Our first food stop was Crumbs Bake Shop for cupcakes. The place is right next to Muhammad Ali’s star on the Walk of Fame, which has the distinction being the only star mounted on a wall rather than on the sidewalk. Trish said the star was mounted off the ground for religious reasons. A People magazine story quoted the champ as saying he didn’t want people who didn’t respect him trampling on his name.

Our next stop was the Dolby Theater, formerly the Kodak Theater, and the site of the Academy Awards ceremonies. We posed for shots on the staircase the stars use in entering the awards ceremony and then headed up for a view of the Hollywood sign.

From the Dolby, we took a van to our next food stop, a new Mexican place on Hollywood Boulevard, the Loteria Grill. We all sat at the bar so we could see the cooks prepare our food fresh. We had chicken and pork on tortillas with fresh guacamole.

Loteria is the creation of Jimmy Shaw, who was born in Mexico City. Shaw started the restaurant, initially as a stand at the Farmer’s Market in Los Angeles, to provide authentic regional Mexican food, rather than Cal-Mex or Tex-Mex food.

The photo doesn't do it justice. This was awesome.

At Loteria we sampled beef and pork staco, chicken sopes, chips & guacamole and homemade lemonade.

The food was great and this is now on my radar for anytime we’re in Hollywood and looking for a bite.

Our other food stops include:

- Mozza2Go, a pizzeria on Melrose with a clientele that includes everyday Joes, soccer moms, and movie stars. We sampled the Margherita, Aglia Olio (garlic & oil) and salami pizzas.

- Greenblatt’s Deli, a combination liquor store (an extremely well stocked one at that) and deli on Sunset near the Laugh Factory. The place is cattycorner from the offices of the Directors Guild and apparently is frequented by Hollywood types making deals and writing scripts. One of our waiters that day had some minor TV credits, including getting staked in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The deli makes a fantastic pastrami sandwich. We also had coleslaw, pickle spears (crisp ones. I hate wimpy pickles), and black-cherry soda. Definitely one of the highlights of the day.

Great pastrami.

- John Kelly Chocolates. Oh. My. God. Great. John Kelly (named for its two owners, John Kelson and Kelly Green) is a chocolatier to stars and movers and shakers. While we were there, the only name they dropped was Hilary Clinton, but I’m sure their clientele are well-heeled. We sampled a variety of truffle fudge flavors, including some topped with sea salt. Quite good. You do pay premium prices for their chocolate (prices go down the more you buy), but it is well worth it.

- Mashti Malone’s, a Persian ice cream shop. They get points for having unusual flavors, including herbal snow and pomegranate.

Sights along the way included the elementary school Michael Jackson attended (it now as an auditorium bearing his name), the Viper Room (where River Phoenix O.D.), and the Capitol Records building. Much of the tour is spent along Hollywood Boulevard, Sunset, and Melrose.

If you’re looking to explore Hollywood, whether you’re a tourist or a local, this tour is a great alternative to slew of buses and vans driving around Hollywood.

Bad photo. Guess I have to back and shoot again.

The Sites and Bites tour is offered Wednesday to Saturday. It normally costs $99 a person, but they are offering it for $85 this fall. Kids under 10 are $59. For more information about this tour and others, check out their website: www.tourificescapes.com

Another great site

One of my favorite blogs to tap for date ideas is 365-la.com. The blog’s author, Jolene, decided she wasn’t going to sit around and be bored, so she went out exploring L.A. Her goal is to come with up 365 outings. She’s over 270 now.

She just recently announced that she and her family were moving to Hawaii, but vowed to continue the blog until she reached 365.

The blog can be searched by month or by neighborhood. The outings run from hikes to major attractions to offbeat curiosities. She just recently had a baby, so the newer entries are family focused and a bit brief.

There’s a gold mine of ideas here and definitely worth checking out.

Quick hits:

Opera. Goldstar has discounts available for a few of the performances of L.A. Opera’s production of Verdi's Falstaff. Haven’t seen this yet, but it is on our schedule. It’s described as an “unabashed celebration of Merrie Olde England's lusty days and bawdy nights.” Goldstar has tix ranging from $31 to $203 (normally $52 to $270).

Aerial act. Mental Head Circus will be performing Nov. 10 and Nov. 15 at the King King Club, 6555 Hollywood. It’s a mix of aerial acts, vaudeville, and cabaret. Kim and I saw this a few months back (lucky me, I had won tickets for it). We found the acts to be both amazing and sexy. The show we saw could have used a dramatist to pull the various threads together, but still it was a great night. Goldstar has discount tickets for $20 and $30 (normally $40 and $60).

Crime and literary tours. I’ll be writing soon about our latest outing, a trip on Esotouric’s Raymond Chandler tour. We’ve done two of their tours now, Chandler and The Black Dahlia. Both were great. Tour guides Richard, Kim, and Joan are well versed in the seedy side of Los Angeles. There’s a couple of Esotouric tours coming up in November, their Charles Bukowski: Haunts of a Dirty Old Man (Nov. 9) and their East Side Babylon (Nov. 16) crime tours. There are discounts available from Goldstar that brings the price down from $58 a person to $29 (not counting Goldstar’s fee).

Another plug for Muse/Ique. As of this writing, Goldstar still had discount tickets for the next entry in Muse/Ique’s Uncorked series, "Girl/Band," which will be held Nov. 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the Avon Distribution Center, 2940 East Foothill Blvd. Tickets are $50 each, but Goldstar has them for $20 (with their fees, it'll be closer to $25). From what we saw of the series opener, that's a good value for your entertainment dollar.

This group also does music outreach to foster kids. We recently met Julie Rogers, the team leader for the outreach program and a violinist. She is an absolute delight. 

The program for "Girl/Band" will open with a screening of the documentary "Girls in the Band," directed by Judy Chaikin. The documentary traces the history of all-girl bands from the 1930s through present day, exposing sexism and racism faced by the women who have broken through primarily male music bastions.
A performance by "fiery female jazz musicians" will cap the program.

Charles and Vaud. I continue to promote two of our favorites, Charles Phoenix and Vaud and the Villains. Both have shows on tap over the next few weeks. If you’re looking for a unique way to view the holidays, check out Charles’ annual holiday slideshow. If you want to be blown away by a great band, Vaud and the Villains will gladly punch your ticket.

MUSE/IQUE and Raymond Chandler

Just a couple of quick items today.

In my last post I mentioned MUSE/IQUE’s November Uncorked series. I just found out about a more immediate show, this Monday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at Pandora on the Green, 33 West Green Street in Pasadena. The show, a Motown-inspired concert, is also a benefit for Union Station Homeless Services, a San Gabriel Valley social services organization that provides assistance to the homeless and low-income families.

The show will feature Motown mashups by MUSE/IQUE, Pasadena's "counter conventional" orchestra led by conductor and artistic director Rachael Worby, the legendary Ellis Hall (formerly of Tower of Power) and an energetic lineup of virtuoso Motown musicians, artists and guest stars. Tickets include hors d'oeuvres and a dessert reception.

As of this writing, Goldstar had tickets for $20 (plus their fee).

Kim and I have now gone to two MUSE/IQUE events and enjoyed both. We are also very impressed with the organization’s KIDS/IQUE! Program, which brings live music to foster kids. This is the description from the organization’s website: “We visit foster care facilities throughout the season and ask the children to join us for each show because their presence and spirit enriches our audience and diversifies the energy of every live performance.”

Kim and I met KIDS/IQUE! program team leader, and MUSE/IQUE violinist, Julie Rogers at a recent dinner. She is an absolute delight – and a rocking musician as well.

Julie Rogers

MUSE/IQUE is just a little over two years old now. I’m looking forward to seeing this organization grow and reach more kids.

Here again is the information about the November show:

The next entry in the Uncorked series, "Girl/Band," which will be held Nov. 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the Avon Distribution Center, 2940 East Foothill Blvd. Tickets are $50 each, but Goldstar has them for $20 (with their fees, it'll be closer to $25).

The program for "Girl/Band" will open with a screening of the documentary "Girls in the Band," directed by Judy Chaikin. The documentary traces the history of all-girl bands from the 1930s through present day, exposing sexism and racism faced by the women who have broken through primarily male music bastions.

A performance by "fiery female jazz musicians" will cap the program.

Raymond Chandler

Want to go on a date with us? We’re cashing in another of Kim’s tour gift certificates, this time to go on Esotouric’s Raymond Chandler tour this Saturday. As it turns out, Goldstar happens to have discount tickets for this one: $29 (again, not including Goldstar’s fees). The regular price is $58.

We did Esotouric’s Black Dahlia tour awhile back and had a great time. Tour guides Richard Schave, Kim Cooper, and Joan Renner are very knowledgeable about Los Angeles - its literary figures and its crimes. You'll see mentions of them and Esotouric in the LA Times and Los Angeles magazine. The tour will hit such sites as the Los Angeles Athletic Club, the Larry Edmunds Bookshop, the Hotel Van Nuys, Paramount Studio’s gates, and a Chandler-themed gelato stop.

Some Quick Hits

Content, content, content. It's been a hectic couple of weeks so I haven't been as active as I had hoped. Going forward, the goal is to post a couple of times a week, giving you the best date ideas I can glean. Some will be road tested, some will be things that I think might make for a great outing, but can't get to with my love.

I'll be writing soon about a couple of Hollywood tours Kim and I have done the last couple of weekends. In the meantime, here's a few quick hits:

MUSE/IQUE

One of our newest discoveries is MUSE/IQUE, which describes themselves as "Pasadena's counter-conventional orchestra." Among MUSE/IQUE's offerings is its "Uncorked" series, performances held in unusual locales.

Kim and I went to the series opener, a selection of songs from the Beatles White Album. The show was held in the Rose Palace, one of the buildings where Rose Parade floats are under construction. The show featured Kevin McHale, Artie of TV's Glee (the lad really can sing). It was a pretty solid show.

I bring this up because Goldstar has discount tickets for the next entry in the Uncorked series, "Girl/Band," which will be held Nov. 11 at 6:30 p.m. at the Avon Distribution Center, 2940 East Foothill Blvd. Tickets are $50 each, but Goldstar has them for $20 (with their fees, it'll be closer to $25). From what we saw of the series opener, that's a good value for your entertainment dollar.

The program for "Girl/Band" will open with a screening of the documentary "Girls in the Band," directed by Judy Chaikin. The documentary traces the history of all-girl bands from the 1930s through present day, exposing sexism and racism faced by the women who have broken through primarily male music bastions.

A performance by "fiery female jazz musicians" will cap the program.

A New tool

While we were at MUSE/IQUE, one of the women at our table told us about the website performingartslive.com. One of the nice features about this site are the filters, allowing you to search for free events, events in particular regions, and events by date or date range.

I did a search for free events in Los Angeles County for the date range of Oct. 19 through Oct. 31 and got over 40 items. If you have any interest in the performing arts, this site needs to be in your date toolbox.

New Date for a Couple of Our Favorites

Histo-tainer Charles Phoenix has a new batch of dates, both for his architecture show and for his annual holiday show. Kim and I highly recommend both shows. Check out my post on Sept. 13 “Villains, Charles, and Becoming L.A.” if you want to get more of a feel of the events.
Charles has two dates for the L.A. Architecture:

- Nov. 10, 3 p.m. at the Mudd Theater, 1325 College Avenue, Claremont. Tickets are $35 and $40.
- Nov. 24 at 4 p.m. at the Art Center College, 1700 Lida Street, Pasadena. Tickets are $25 and $30.
Charles has three dates L.A. and Riverside counties for his holiday show:
- Dec 1 at 7 pm at the Mission Inn Foundation, 3696 Main Street, Riverside. Tix are $29. Kim and I are eyeing this one. We’re thinking of combining this with a visit to the nearby Mission Inn to see their annual Festival of Lights.
- Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. at the Art Theater of Long Beach, 2025 East Fourth Street. Tickets are $25.
- Dec. 15 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Curtis Theater,1 Civic Center Drive, Brea. Tickets are $21 to $30.

Vaud and the Villains have two shows listed for November – The 2nd, at Harvelles, 201 East Broadway, Long Beach and Nov. 27 at Fais Do Do, 5253, West Adams in Los Angeles. Tickets are $20 for those who don’t mind standing and $25 for those who want a chair. Go. Dance. Be joyful, people.

A Date with L.A. Architecture

This week we explore Hancock Park, rock out in Eagle Rock, do Shakespeare - Native American style, and see scary movies.

This week’s spotlight feature is a bit of cheat. It was very affordable for us, but it’ll cost you a few bucks to do it. I will say that it is worth it if you choose to lay out the cash.

Back in April, Kim won a set of Los Angeles theme tours. We’re just now starting to cash in those gift certificates. Our first pick – Architecture Tours L.A.

Our guide Laura Massino Smith.

The company offers van tours of several Los Angeles regions, including Hollywood, downtown, and, our choice, Hancock Park-Miracle Mile. Their tours run $70 a person, $125 for the special Frank Lloyd Wright and Frank Gehry tours. I choose the Hancock Park tour because, A, I knew little about the area, and B, I liked the tour description of seeing Art Deco beauties, magnificent mansions, and Craftsmen homes.

Our guide was Laura Massino Smith, a New Yorker-turned-Angeleno with a master’s degree in architectural history and a love of historic preservation.

 We met up with Laura in the parking lot of a Kentucky Fried Chicken at Western Avenue and Oakwood Avenue in Koreatown. This isn’t just any KFC. This is perhaps the best looking KFC you will see anywhere.

Look at what the Colonel did.

 Laura told us it was an example of Deconstructivist Post-Modern architecture. It looks like a bucket that chicken would come in, only have of it is removed.

We were off to a good start and we hadn’t even left the parking lot.

A blow-by-blow account of our tour would take up way to much space, but I do want to share a few of the beauties we saw.

First, here are descriptions of Hancock Park and Windsor Square from the Los Angeles Office of Historic Resources:

Hancock Park:  Outstanding architects of the era designed the palatial two-story, single family residences in various Period Revival styles (including Tudor Revival, English Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, Mediterranean Revival, Monterey Revival, and American Colonial Revival) for influential members of Los Angeles society. 

Laura told us a story about Nat King Cole, who moved into Hancock Park in the late 1940s. Hancock Park residents were so alarmed at having an African-American in their neighborhood they sent out a letter advising residents to watch for “undesirables.” By accident Cole received one of the letters. He replied that if he saw anyone undesirable he would let them know. The Cole family lived in the neighborhood into the 1960s.

The Getty House, the Los Angeles Mayoral Residence.

Windsor Square was planned to be the most exclusive neighborhood in Southern California and the largest upper-class subdivision ever marketed in Los Angeles. Residences in Windsor Square represent various periods of development and a variety of architectural styles. Early residences feature examples of the Craftsman and Beaux Arts or Classical Revival styles while later residences reflect the popularity of Period Revival styles including Spanish Colonial, Mediterranean, Tudor, English, French, and American Colonial Revival styles.

This beauty is my favorite of the trip - the Mauretania Apartments, named after the British ship. This Streamline Moderne beauty was the Los Angeles home for JFK. It was designed in 1934 by Milton Black.

The entrance to the Desmonds, a former department store which is now being used as an art gallery. This Art Deco beauty has an elevator operated by Ruben Pardo, who has been on the job since 1976.

The Chateau LeMoine, built in 1925 in the French Normandy style. Apparently it's rubbish day in the kingdom.

Sadly, my pictures of one of the other great tour highlights - an entire neighborhood of Craftsmen homes along South Wilton Place - didn't come out so hot. But trust me, they are fantastic. 

Okay, so we were lucky and didn't have to pay a nickel for this tour, but I will tell you this - immediately afterward Kim and I debated which tour with Laura to take next.We will be spending our own bucks next time around.You can get Laura's books on her various tours through Amazon. The price is around $10 new for the Hancock Park book and I saw a $5 price tag on used ones. So you can do your own self-guided tours, but I think you would be missing out. I think the book is best as a companion to, not a replacement for, one of Laura's tours.

Lots of great stuff coming up, people. This week’s quick hits:

- A couple of posts back I told you about our date at the Charles Phoenix “Architecture in L.A.” slideshow. Charles has two more architecture slideshows coming up, the first on Nov. 10 at the Mudd Theater in Claremont and the second on Nov. 24 in Pasadena. Charles’ shows aren’t cheap, but my wife and I believe Charles is value for your entertainment dollar. See Charles’ website for show details. 

- The Annenberg Space for Photography is between exhibits at the moment, but they are filling the void with what they are calling their Skylight Studios Fall Film Screening. They are showing a series of short documentaries from past exhibits: no strangers, Water: Our Thirsty World, and Extreme Exposure.

The free screenings are being held every weekend through the weekend of Oct. 19-20. The screenings are being held in the Skylight Studios located across the park from the photography space on “A” level, 10050 Constellation Boulevard in Century City. See their website for details.

The Annenberg is near Craft restaurant, one of the finest in Century City. It is pricey, but perhaps you might want to hit for drinks after the viewing.

- This Saturday is the annual Eagle Rock Music Festival. LA Weekly describes it as “music from the four corners of the Earth, delivered right to your own backyard.”

The event runs from 4 to 10 p.m. along Colorado Boulevard between Eagle Rock Boulevard and Argus Drive.

LA Weekly describes the lineup as being “all over the map in the best possible way. The bill includes The Mars Volta/Le Butcherettes collaboration Bosnian Rainbows, the Inland Empire' Latin combo Quitapenas, and the guitar-banjo-fiddle of Triple Chicken Foot. The wonderful Bob Baker Marionettes are also on the bill.

Admission is $10, $20 if you want a VIP pass. Complete lineup and tips on getting there can be found at the event website.

- I thought the outdoor screenings would start to disappear once fall came, but happily I was wrong.
Eat/See/Hear is holding Shocktober: Supernatural Saturdays., screenings of three classic movies. The series opens on Oct. 12 with a screening of Poltergeist at Los Angeles Technical College. Through the rest of October, the series will present outdoor screenings of Halloween classics, Ghostbusters (Oct. 19 at Centennial Square at Pasadena City Hall) and The Shining (Oct. 26 at LA Historic Park). Doors open at 4:30 p.m., band performs at 6:00 p.m. and movie begins at 7:30 p.m.

Advance admission is $10. General admission is $12. See their website for details You can find discount tickets on Goldstar.

- On Oct. 24 Native Voices presents a staged reading of Measure for Measure: An Indian Boarding School Comedy, a Shakespeare adaption set in the Old West. An Indian boarding school and the local town struggle over the fate of a young teenage boy unjustly sentenced to death. Tickets are $10 but you can get them for just a $3.50 service charge if you get them through Goldstar.