Last month's constant rain may have been annoying, but the pay-off is already evident. Although our wildflowers still haven't started to bloom, our other California natives are beginning to explode with tiny bits of color. I spent as much time as possible in our yards this past weekend. Enjoy!
Yarrow
Ribes (Currant)No trip to Burbank, my hometown, is complete without stopping somewhere for lunch. But where to eat on New Year’s Day when most places are closed?
We drove by Portos, our favorite Cuban bakery/deli. It was closed, as was Taste Chicago, a pizza and hot dog joint owned and operated by actor Joe Mantegna’s wife, Arlene. Next stop: Bob’s Big Boy on Riverside Dr.—one of the last remaining original Big Boys and a truly iconic piece of mid-century Americana. Bob’s was open, but had a 20-minute wait, so I put our names on the list and went to the restroom. By the time I came out, Tim had called The Smokehouse, a few blocks away. Apparently he was far hungrier than I was.
“The Smokehouse is open and there’s no waiting!” he told me as soon as I returned. “Let’s go!”
Located across the street from Warner Bros. Studios since the late 1940s, The Smokehouse remains kinda hip, even if one of its signature dishes is “Steak Sinatra” (oy!). The place is packed with Hollywood types eating lunch there during the week. No doubt, fans of The Larry Sanders Show will remember Hank Kingsley (Jeffrey Tambor) forever trying to get Larry (Garry Shandling) to go with him to The Smokehouse to drink beers and pick-up women.
For locals, however, the place has a much happier and personal meaning. This is still where families and couples go to celebrate special occasions: anniversaries, birthdays, graduations. My sister’s date took her there before one of their big high school dances many, many years ago. Lots of memories have been made at The Smokehouse.
We parked the car and followed a group of Asian tourists into the restaurant’s lobby. The lighting was dim and Frank was singing “My Way” overhead. The tourists were led into a large dining area, while we were taken to a more intimate space with banquettes and small tables. Our wide booth had smooth red leather seats. Four people speaking Russian were seated two tables away. Every so often I could hear them say something in English, like “The Godfather” or “Life is like a box of chocolates.” Ah, the global influence of American culture . . .
We were reviewing the menu (no lunch entries under $19.95) when a woman made a dramatic entrance, explaining loudly that she and her family, who were following close behind, had just come from the Rose Parade in Pasadena.
“My niece marched in a band that came all the way from Philadelphia. It took her four days to fly out because of the east coast blizzard!” she announced to the wait staff (and whoever else was listening). “We got to the parade at 4:30AM. We walked seven miles from the car to Colorado Blvd. I’m exhausted. Bring two orders of garlic bread immediately!”
Not to be outdone, a woman seated across from the parade-goers started telling her story as well. She was eating with her 85-year-old mother whose husband had died last year.
“This is our first holiday without Daddy,” she told Ms. Garlic Bread. “So we thought we’d treat ourselves to The Smokehouse on New Year’s Day! We’re having a bottle of champagne with two orders of Chateaubriand!”
Making a quick check of the menu, Tim whispered “The Chateaubriand is $30 a person!” in my ear before ordering shrimp Louie for himself. I got a Cobb salad.
By now, the music had changed from Frank to a female singer, but it was impossible to tell whether it was Eydie Gormé or Vikki Carr above all the noise the two women were making.
“Do you live in Burbank?” Chateaubriand asked Ms. Garlic Bread.
“Oh, yes. We’re up on the hill,” she said rather smugly.
“What does that mean: ‘up on the hill’?” Tim asked me in a low voice.
“That means they’re a lot richer than we are,” I snorted, digging into my salad. I decided then that all the world's a stage at The Smokehouse.
We ordered a big slice of cheesecake to go and then went home to watch Larry Sanders on DVD. Welcome to the new year!
What a great year it's been!
Since we don’t have kids, we usually treat ourselves to a big gift every Christmas. Last year it was a new computer. This year we decided to go to Orlando—a place we’d never been, even though I’m (as you probably already know!) something of a Disney nut. We left L.A. on Saturday morning and arrived back home late Wednesday night.
We roomed at the Beach Club Resort, one of the nicest but oldest Disney properties. The resort’s main advantage: it’s within easy walking distance of Epcot, the most “adult” of all the Walt Disney World (WDW) theme parks, which we visited several times during our stay.
Epcot is actually two parks in one: (1) Future World, a more traditional Disneyesque experience with attractions focused mostly on ecology and the future and (2) World Showcase, a mini-world’s fair of exhibits and food from several international countries. Our first morning there, we made a beeline straight to the Spaceship Earth geosphere—the iconic golfball-shaped building that greets all Epcot visitors. Inside we traveled from the stone age to the information age, culminating in a very clever video that’s tailor-made for every person participating in the ride. (Click below to see ours.)
Very fun! The rest of the park, though, was rather mediocre. The various “countries” offered an interesting array of restaurants (that serve alcohol!), but the attractions were embarrassingly outdated and stereotypical. No need to ever return.
From Epcot we took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom, Disneyland’s fraternal twin. Visiting the Magic Kingdom was weird for both of us. Although the layout is very similar to Disneyland, it’s enough different that we felt like we were in an alternate universe. Everything is also more spread out in the Magic Kingdom; plus there’s no Matterhorn (!!). And the castles aren’t the same: Disneyland has Sleeping Beauty’s castle, while the Magic Kingdom’s castle is home to Cinderella. I longed for the familiarity of Anaheim!
Temperatures plummeted into the 30s on Monday, but we mushed ahead anyway to the Animal Kingdom, one of the newer and best WDW parks. Built in 1998, Animal Kingdom feels like a true extension (rather than recreation) of Disneyland and does a good job of promoting animal preservation, one of my favorite topics. We enjoyed the half-hour Finding Nemo stage play, performed with puppets (a la The Lion King). We also went on the Dinoland, U.S.A. ride, which is similar to Disneyland’s “Indiana Jones” but with dinosaurs instead of Harrison Ford (!). The best part, though, were the live animals featured in several of the park’s attractions. Foremost was the Kilimanjaro Safari that takes visitors through some 100 acres of transplanted savanna, forest, and rocky terrain. Now I’m not one for zoos or other artificial animal habitats, but this was really quite wonderful.
We saw all kinds of African fauna, including flamingos, giraffes, hippos, lions (spectacular!), and elephants.
The highlight, however, came after the tour when we walked along the Pangani Forest Exploration Trail and saw a family of silverback gorillas. What a thrill!
Did we end up having a good time? Absolutely, especially when combined with our trip to the Kennedy Space Center (see the separate blog entry below). But whenever I need a Disney fix, I’m glad all I need to do is drive 35 miles to Anaheim and visit the Happiest Place on Earth. Sure, Orlando’s Downtown Disney—with its miles of endless shopping, restaurants and fun nightlife—is far superior to ours, but the rest doesn’t hold a candle to the original Disneyland. (If only Animal Kingdom could be transported here!) Plus, Walt Disney World is far too enormous. You literally need a car to get from one park to another. You can rely on the free shuttles, but they take FOREVER! I swear we spent at least 10 hours waiting for shuttles to take us to and fro.
Will we ever return? Of course! We barely scratched the surface of things to do and see. But next time we’ll go in the spring and rent a car for our entire stay.
One of my earliest childhood memories is of watching astronaut Alan Shepard blast-off from Cape Canaveral to take the first U.S. trip into space. The event was so historically significant that my 1st-grade teacher brought a TV to class so we could all watch. I was immediately hooked on space travel.Oddly enough, it never occurred to me that Orlando is only an hour away from the Kennedy Space Center—that is, until Tim’s boss mentioned we might need a break from Disney while there (thanks Mike!). Boy, was he right! On Tuesday, we rented a car and drove to the Kennedy Space Center, home to NASA and my childhood dreams of space exploration. Hands down, it was the highlight of our vacation.
Much like Walt Disney World, the Space Center is spread out over many miles, most of which are accessible only by tour bus. The visitor center features a rocket garden of early spacecraft, exhibits about the U.S. vs USSR "space race," an IMAX theater, and an open space shuttle. There’s also an astronaut hall of fame, located a couple of miles away, and a fabulous offsite Apollo/Saturn V Center, which houses an example of the monstrous Saturn rockets that carried the Apollo moon missions into space. To get the real flavor of the place, however, you have to pay extra to take a tour of either Cape Canaveral (”Then and Now”) or the shuttle assembly building, launch pad and landing strip. We opted to revisit our youth and so toured the Cape.
Some of the launch pads are still active; but the most impressive ones were those where Shepard, John Glenn, et al., lifted off in the 1960s. We toured the “blockhouse” where Shepard’s first flight was counted down
and took pictures of what remains of launch pad 14, where Glenn’s historic Friendship 7 flight originated.
The most emotional site, though, was launch pad 34 where the crew of Apollo 1 burned to death during an on-ground test run. Although it was a horrible time for the space program, NASA eventually recovered and launched Apollo 7 from this same site.
The dramatic concrete pad base
and huge flame diverters remain on the site, as does a memorial to the three Apollo astronauts who lost their lives.
Tickets to the Kennedy Space Center are good for two days. “That’s strange,” I thought when we paid our entrance fee. But now I know why. Spending only one day at the Space Center is not nearly enough. The next time we’re in Florida, I hope to schedule at least two days on Cape Canaveral as this was truly one of the most amazing places we’ve ever visited.
One of the most exciting on-going local developments is the revitalization of downtown L.A. Hundred-year-old buildings are turning into living spaces as more and more amenities—like a recently opened Ralph's supermarket—are introduced into the area. Downtown is becoming gentrified.
As those of you who know us know, we've been tinkering with our yards for several years now. Three years ago we tore out the backyard and planted drought-tolerent California natives. That worked so well, we did it again the following year in the front yard. Then last year we converted our garage into what realtors call a "bonus room"--that is, we now use it instead of cars.
Even though we live within walking distance of Sony Studios, we’ve never seen film crews in our neighborhood—that is, until yesterday. On Monday a notice from Film L.A. was tucked into our front door, warning that an episode of Law & Order: Los Angeles (or LOLA, as we affectionately call it) was being shot the next day in Ballona Creek, the concrete “river” that runs at the end of our block. The notice promised “atmospheric smoke effects,” weapons, a “crime scene body,” “fake blood on the river bank,” and an array of film equipment. In addition, the bike path located alongside the creek would be inaccessible and street parking restricted, 6AM to midnight.
As soon as I got dressed the next morning, I looked down the street and, sure enough, orange cones were blocking the exit. I walked over to the creek to see what was going on. At the far side, I could see what looked to be a white bodybag. A crew member was picking trash out of the water—heaven forbid the rest of the country sees debris in our sad excuse of a river! Two retired motorcycle cops guarded the ends of the street bordering the creek. They were giving me the fisheye, so I went back home to work.
I returned a few hours later to survey the scene. Two (prop?) cop cars were parked on the other side of the creek, along with a fake county coroner’s wagon. A neighbor pulled out of her driveway and yelled my way, “Has anyone claimed the body yet?” She then sped away, laughing hysterically at her own joke. A police officer walked past, but I couldn’t tell if he was real or an “extra.” I then noticed that the gate to the bike path, which has been locked ever since we moved here, was open! Marveling at the power of Hollywood, I walked toward the gate. No one stopped me and so, for the first time in 12 years, I took the normally forbidden shortcut to the post office.
When I got back, the crew had moved to one of the houses overlooking the creek. Windows were covered in brown wrapping paper and floodlights were blazing. I looked around for the stars of the show, but didn’t see anyone famous, so kept walking home. However, I did see a bank of porta-potties standing at the end of the street. Show biz ain’t as glamorous as it used to be!
P.S. The L.A. Times also had its eye on our little TV production and so ran an article about the Ballona Creek LOLA episode in today’s Business section. According to the Times, film production in L.A. is up 22% this season, thanks to LOLA and other LA-centric shows. Good for the economy and good for those of us who remain star-struck, even if we’ve lived here most of our lives.
Be watching for the “Ballona Creek” episode to air some time in December.
UPDATE: The "Ballona Creek" episode of LOLA aired on NBC last night (11/17/10). Lots of creek scenes. I can't believe I missed all the action! You can probably catch the episode on Hulu if you missed it.
