Category Archives: Travel

The Neon Museum

Posted on June 3, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: On a recent trip to Las Vegas, I visited the Neon Museum, where the ghosts of the city’s golden age haunt the Nevada desert. It’s a wonderfully photogenic, melancholy place and an essential stop the next time … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art, Commercial art, Photography, Travel | Tagged Las Vegas, neon, signage, typography | 12 Comments

Letter from China: In-flight Rhetoric

Posted on May 27, 2013 by Fenster

Fenster writes: Sponsored rhetoric will always reflect the interests, and interest, of the sponsor. We get that automatically in the Era of Spin, that you can’t much trust any statement on its face, and that your brain has to automatically … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics and Economics, Travel | Tagged Air China, China, in-flight magazines, labor | 2 Comments

De De Mollner’s Sunset Strip (With a Few Detours Along the Way)

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: After reading Paleo Retiree’s ultra-groovy interview with De De Mollner about her days as a go-go dancer in 60s L.A., I couldn’t help but wonder about some of the Sunset Strip locations she mentioned. A few of … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Music, Performers, Photography, Travel | Tagged Amoeba Music, Capitol Records building, Chateau Marmont, Cinerama Dome, Ciro's, Crossroads of the World, Dan Tana's, Falling Down, Hollywood, Hollywood & Vine, KHJ Studios, Los Angeles, Lucy's El Adobe, Martoni's, Mel's Drive In, Musso & Frank Grill, Nickodell's, Pandora's Box, Paramount Pictures, Sunset Sound, Sunset Strip, The Brown Derby, The Comedy Store, The Trip, The Troubadour, The Whiskey, Tower Records, Trocadero, West Hollywood | 8 Comments

Notes on Los Angeles, Part II: Mostly Architecture

Posted on April 27, 2013 by Sir Barken Hyena

Sir Barken Hyena writes: The L.A. visit continued with a walking tour of glorious, or at least much photographed, Downtown Los Angeles. We had some highs and some lows with this one. One “high” was certainly the LA City Hall, … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Travel | 12 Comments

Notes on Los Angeles, Part I

Posted on April 20, 2013 by Sir Barken Hyena

Sir Barken Hyena writes: Lady Hyena has been getting restless lately, never a good thing, so I took her and myself for a few days in the Big City: The City of Angels in this case, a place we’ve only … Continue reading →

Posted in The Good Life, Travel | 4 Comments

The L.A. Conservancy’s Art Deco Walking Tour

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Recently, I attended a walking tour offered by the Los Angeles Conservancy, a charitable organization tasked with “preserving and revitalizing greater Los Angeles’ architectural heritage.” (Don’t laugh.) These tours are offered every weekend of such places as the … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Food and health, Photography, Travel | Tagged art deco, Beaux Arts, Biltmore, building codes, Claud Beelman, Donald D. Parkinson, Eastern Columbia Building, gay cruising, Hart Crane, John B. Parkinson, L.A. Conservancy, Los Angeles, Mission Revival, Oviatt Building, Parkinson & Parkinson, Pershing Square, Ricardo Legorreta, Romanesque Revival, Santa Muerte, SCE Company Building, Sun Realty Building, Title Guarantee Building, Umami Burger, UMAMIcatessen, Union Station | 18 Comments

Adventures in the Hermit Kingdom

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Yet again, tensions are flaring between the North and South on the Korean peninsula. Following a nuclear test in North Korea in February, the West increased its sanctions and then the U.S. flew a couple stealth bombers … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal reflections, Politics and Economics, Travel | Tagged 60 Minutes, Aquariums of Pyongyang, Brandt travel guides, DPRK, Escape from Camp 14, graphic novels, gulag, Kim Il-Sung, Kim Jong Un, Kim Jong-Il, mutual assured destruction, North Korea, Nothing to Envy, nuclear war, Pyongyang, South Korea, The Cleanest Race, The Day After, This is Paradise!, USSR, VICE, worst kickline ever | 12 Comments

Architecture Conundrums: Solvang

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Paleo Retiree

Paleo Retiree writes: Back in the day, one of the main things that any self-respecting arts education drilled into wannabe artsfans was an aversion to kitsch. And not just an aversion to it, but a vehement, cell-level hatred. It’s fake. … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Architecture, The Good Life, Travel | Tagged alpacas, architecture, California, charcuterie, Denmark, food, kitsch, Petersen Village Inn, Root 246, Santa Ynez Valley, Solvang, Succulent Cafe, wine | 32 Comments

The View from My Train

Posted on December 11, 2012 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Took the Amtrak from Orange County to San Diego over the weekend. On the way back home, I snapped this snap of Solana Beach. No wonder everyone wants to live in California.

Posted in Photography, The Good Life, Travel | Tagged Amtrak, California, cliche for a reason, San Diego, Solana Beach | 5 Comments

“Damsels in Distress”

Posted on December 2, 2012 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Like Fabrizio, I recently watched Whit Stillman’s latest mocking eulogy for WASP culture and enjoyed it quite a bit. In the DVD commentary Stillman says the budget and shooting style was like his first film Metropolitan and this movie feels like … Continue reading →