Tag Archives: Los Angeles

Thom Mayne Must Be Stopped

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Last weekend, I was finally able to get up close and personal to Thom Mayne’s Pritzker prize-winning (i.e. the “Nobel of architecture”) CalTrans 7 District Headquarters located across the street from City Hall in the heart of … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Photography | Tagged CalTrans building, concrete, crimes against good taste, crimes against style, Los Angeles, Pritzker Prize, scaffolding, steel, Thom Mayne | 26 Comments

Down These Mean Streets a Man Must Go…

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Here are a few pics of some notable L.A. landmarks from my trip there a couple weeks ago (previous installments here and here). First, Union Station.

Posted in Architecture, Movies, Photography | Tagged Biltmore, Blade Runner, Bradbury Building, Charlie Chaplin, Chinatown, Dutch Colonial Revival, Film Noir, Ghostbusters, Los Angeles, Mad Men, One Percent, Spanish Revival, Streamline Moderne, The Shining, Union Station, Vertigo | 9 Comments

Camille Paglia’s “Glittering Images”

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Camille Paglia — professor, provocateur, scourge of leftist academics and feminists — has a new book on visual art and was in town recently to lecture on it. I trekked over to the Skirball Cultural Center on the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Books Publishing and Writing, Education | Tagged art deco, Camille Paglia, Glittering Images, Los Angeles, Madonna, Skirball Cultural Center, Tamara de Lempicka, Vogue | 16 Comments

The Last Bookstore

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: While in downtown L.A. this weekend, we checked out a hip new shop called, ominously and ironically, The Last Bookstore.

Posted in Books Publishing and Writing, Commercial art, Photography, The Good Life | Tagged book store, Los Angeles, poetry slam, pulps | 11 Comments

Catholics, Carnitas, and Holy Death in Los Angeles

Posted on October 23, 2012 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: Yesterday I spent the day walking around downtown Los Angeles with faunafrailty, who has been known to show up in the comments here occasionally. During my leisurely Sunday stroll, my keen observational faculties revealed something that might elude … Continue reading →

Posted in Food and health, Photography, Travel | Tagged California, carnitas, Catholicism, Dia de los Muertos, Los Angeles, luchadores, Mexican Coke, Mexican nationalism, Olvera Street, paganism, Santa Muerte, white guilt | 13 Comments

City Sights: Downtown L.A.’s Grand Park

Posted on August 20, 2012 by Blowhard, Esq.

Blowhard, Esq. writes: When the guys at the office don’t care if we win or lose, I’m sent downtown to make court appearances. One of the perks of going — besides getting out of the office — is the chance … Continue reading →