Unfortunately, this has been the view from my downtown balcony for the past week.  This photo was taken last Saturday morning at the beginning of the fire, when the smoke was at 20,000 feet up in the air and only 5% contained (according to KROQ).  It’s grown a lot over the last week, but current reports [...]]]>

Unfortunately, this has been the view from my downtown balcony for the past week.  This photo was taken last Saturday morning at the beginning of the fire, when the smoke was at 20,000 feet up in the air and only 5% contained (according to KROQ).  It’s grown a lot over the last week, but current reports are that it’s being pushed back gradually.  My friend in Altadena mentioned that 2 blocks from his house has been evacuated already, but he hasn’t been notified of any evacuations for his place.

At night I can see the actual fire blazing on the ridge.  Makes it look like a volcano going off in the distance.

I’m getting out of town this weekend, but I wish the best to all those who are fighting the fires and anybody who has been affected by it.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

If you’re in the OC, there’s a strawberry festival happening in Garden Grove.  The 51st running of this annual family-friendly festival is happening throughout the weekend.  It’s free and wholesome fun.  Excerpt below taken from the web:

The four-day event, which is the [...]]]> The long weekend is here!  Go out and have some fun in the sun!

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

If you’re in the OC, there’s a strawberry festival happening in Garden Grove.  The 51st running of this annual family-friendly festival is happening throughout the weekend.  It’s free and wholesome fun.  Excerpt below taken from the web:

The four-day event, which is the second largest city festival in the Western United States, will be
held at the Village Green between Main Street and Euclid Avenue in downtown Garden Grove. Last
year’s attendance was over 250,000.

Highlights of the event includes the  Friday evening official giant strawberry cake cutting
ceremony at 6:00 p.m. when free cake is served to over 1,000 people.  Saturday morning is a parade which starts at 10 a.m. with floats, bands, equestrians and Warner Bros. Roadrunner as well as Knott’s Berry Farm’s Snoopy. Many celebrities and healthcare heroes will be honored in the parade, and many stars will stay after the parade to sign autographs.

All four festival days will include all new, bigger carnival rides, contests, lots of food and sales
booths, games, music and live entertainment in the amphitheater and Showmobile.  Contests include the Berry, Berry Beautiful Baby Contest, Redhead Roundup, Strawberry Idol Karaoke, and Tiny Tots King and Queen.

NEW YORK

If you’re in the big apple, my friend Alex has a ridiculous weekend planned full of crawfish, BBQ, and many other good eats.  Check out his blog entry and also this post from Serious Eats.

MOVIES

Opening this weekend is Terminator Salvation, Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian, and Dance Flick.

I’ll be hosting a friend in town while hitting up a few bday parties scattered throughout LA on Friday night.  Planning on some Disneyland over the weekend too.  Enjoy your long weekends!

Thursday night - Downtown Artwalk

This great monthly event held every second Thursday is a regular draw for thousands of people to wander the usually empty streets of downtown.  All of the 50+ galleries in downtown open their doors for free and extended hours, which you can find [...]]]> The weekend is near! Here’s a rundown of upcoming goodies:

Thursday night - Downtown Artwalk

This great monthly event held every second Thursday is a regular draw for thousands of people to wander the usually empty streets of downtown.  All of the 50+ galleries in downtown open their doors for free and extended hours, which you can find on their handy map here.  It’s also a good excuse to go barhopping.

Friday – Opening of Tony’s

This new bar is set to be open by the people who bring you Seven Grand, Broadway Bar, and Cole’s.  Another improvement to downtown is coming to you in a very strange location.  Unlike the other bars which are located in the urban hub, this bar will be stranded out in the warehouse area past Mateo St. on 7th St.  I wonder if it will bring people to drive out into the unknown abyss for some of their great cocktails.  I’ll go and report back later.  See article in UrbanDaddy.

Sunday – Bay to Breakers

It’s back!  Lace ‘em up and dress up or dress down.  Join the thousands as they run through the streets of SF in the biggest and most exciting 12k in the nation.

Happy [...]]]>

Happy Valentine’s Day.

In my first week in Los Angeles (back in Fall 2007), I had a slow day at work so I began to compile a list of things that I wanted to do while living in LA.  A couple chicken-scratch scribbles on cocktail napkins led to a dedicated notepad that evolved into what you see [...]]]>

In my first week in Los Angeles (back in Fall 2007), I had a slow day at work so I began to compile a list of things that I wanted to do while living in LA.  A couple chicken-scratch scribbles on cocktail napkins led to a dedicated notepad that evolved into what you see above.  With the help of some coworkers, my wall became filled with little post-its of things to do in LA.

Since then, I’ve vowed to do my best to take all those post-its off my wall before I leave Southern California.  Unfortunately, every weekend where I think I’ve made some headway and pulled things off the wall, new ones just keep popping up.  A short snippet of the list is here:

1. Go to a Lakers game
2. Visit the Getty Center and Getty Villa
3. Universal Studios backlot tour
4. Go to a Dodgers game
5. Take a date to Santa Monica Pier
6. Ride the X-2, Superman, and Goliath at Six Flags Magic Mountain
7. Go to a movie premiere
8. Go to Disneyland and California Adventures
9. Sunday drive on Mulholland
10. Take a picture in front of the Hollywood Sign
11. Be filmed as an extra
12. See the Rose Bowl Parade on New Years Day
13. Celebrate Halloween in West Hollywood
14. Art Walk in Downtown LA
15. Watch an outdoor show at the Hollywood Bowl or Greek Theater
16. Find your favorite celebrity’s star on the Walk of Fame
17. Go window shopping at Rodeo Drive
18. Eat a famous Pink’s Hot Dog
19. Eat a Sprinkles cupcake
20. Skating/Biking down Venice Beach
21. Hike Runyon Canyon
22. Take a boat trip to go snorkeling in Catalina
23. Surfing in Zuma / El Porto / Huntington Beach
24. Go to a USC football game
25. Attend the Coachella music festival

This list has inspired me to keep trying out everything LA has to offer and still does.  My official scorecard will be kept here: http://myweekendpassport.com/thelist/

So, a little introduction to this blog.  I have been inspired to start a blog by a few friends and a recent discovery into the blogging world while at work.  At first I thought it was just an online diary for people to share their thoughts and daily activities for all their friends to read (maybe [...]]]>

So, a little introduction to this blog.  I have been inspired to start a blog by a few friends and a recent discovery into the blogging world while at work.  At first I thought it was just an online diary for people to share their thoughts and daily activities for all their friends to read (maybe that was corrupted by Xanga), but I have found a lot of useful information through the blogs of others and continue to use them as a resource for new discoveries.  If I want to find a nice restaurant while visiting New York, get some advice on how to match a new scarf to an existing outfit, or get a good deal on a digital camera these days, I find myself consulting these ‘experts’ as part of my research.  With this blog, hopefully I can be a part of the chain and contribute.

What can I add to the blogging world and my community of friends?  Anybody who knows me, is aware that I’m a frequent traveller whenever possible.  And if I can’t get out of LA, I’m almost never content to just sit around the condo the entire day.  No.  Life is too short and the world is too big.  There’s too many things to see, eat, play, and live out in this city alone.  I take my weekends seriously and hate to see them go to waste.  So like a collection of stamps in a passport, this blog is a collection of memories and happenings from the weekends of this adventurous urbanite in LA (or wherever I may be located).

To sum it up, this blog serves two purposes.  1.) To share my adventures and discoveries from around LA and my travels.  I don’t pretend to be any expert on this city or anywhere I travel to, and I don’t need to be.  I merely hope to inspire some people to try new things or provide some tips from things that I’ve done.  2.) Personally, I think it’d be pretty neat to have something to look back on all the things that I’ve done.  It will also inspire me to keep trying out new things just to add unique entries into this blog.