Woe is me! I missed the biggest donut event in L.A. because I am on vacation in Hawaii*.

In honor of the Blogging.LA Donut Summit, we (Yoshi, Scrivener, and I) decided to go malasada taste-testing in Honolulu. Malasadas (or malassadas) are Portuguese confections which consist of yeasty dough that is deep-fried in oil and coated with granulated sugar. (Sounds close enough to a donut to me!) They made their way to Hawaii with the Portuguese laborers who were working on the plantations.

We started at Leonard’s Bakery, arguably the best-known malasadas around. Here is me with the first malasada– a regular one that just came out of the deep fryer and was rolled in granulated sugar. It was warm, airy, and delicious!

in addition to the regular malasada at Leonard’s, we got a filled malasada. The guava malasada is the current flavor of the month, so naturally, that’s what I got. (This is unabashed food porn. Cover your eyes if you’re uncomfortable looking at such oozy-goodness.)

After we stopped off at Leonard’s, we went off to Champion Malasadas, which is what some locals consider the “better” malasada place. When we arrived, we were the only customers there. The owner, Joc Miw, cheerily greeted us at the cash register and wanted to know how many malasadas we wanted so he could fry them up freshly for us. Aside from being 10 cents cheaper each (60 cents at Champion’s versus 70 cents a Leonard’s), the regular malasadas at Champion were eggier than those at Leonard’s, which I liked. While still airy, the Champion malasada was slightly more dense (substantial?) than Leonard’s.

These are the malasadas from Champion:

This was the custard-filled malasada at Champion’s, which cost $1 and was pre-fried and sitting in a chilled display case, so it wasn’t warm/freshly fried. You know what? It was still good! It was admittedly different than the guava-filled one that we tried at Leonard’s, not just because the filling was a different flavor, but because this one was fried in advance, the consistency was less airy and a little more doughy.

Honestly speaking, the guava filling at Leonard’s wasn’t as good as I’d hoped and I actually liked the creamy filling at Champion better. But because the filled malasada at Leonard’s was freshly fried, the malasada dough itself was not as good at Champion. I’m going to declare this one an official tie because the filling was better at Champion and the dough was better at Leonard’s, but I’d have to have another round where BOTH were freshly fried to be able to declare a winner.

So, what’s the verdict of Leonards vs. Champion malasadas?
With regard to the regular malasadas, while they are both really good (when fresh out of the fryer), I personally have to give the slight edge to Champion over Leonard’s because I liked the eggy flavor better– some people may not like this like I do. That said, Yoshi thinks that Leonard’s is the better of the two because of the texture and taste. In the car, @Scrivener said it was a tough call because they were both good– the Leonard’s suprising him because they were better than he had remembered because he doesn’t usually have them fresh. I think @Scrivener is most accurate when he says “they are quite different. hot out of the fryer, they’re both quite wonderful.”

So I guess between us, there was no winner. My recommendation is that if you’re in Honolulu, go to both and see for yourself. If you can’t decide, flip a coin. Either way, you’re in for a treat.

When I get back to L.A., I’m doing a malasada crawl. I hope it won’t be totally disappointing.

*Thanks for indulging in my non-L.A. related post– but if you don’t know what malasadas are, now you do and you can find them in L.A., too! And when I go to next year’s Donut Summit, I know what I’m bringing!

There are full reports of the AMAZING event to come, but for now here is a small taste of what you missed.

Mmmmmmmmm…donuts!

Hope you’re all stocked up with antacids, because the Donut Summit is almost upon us!

We’ll see you there tomorrow, in Griffith Park (find us near the Vermont entrance), at 1pm, with your donuts!  I’m super excited – word on the street is that there will be strawberry donuts from the Donut Man, and I’m bringing blueberry donuts from my own beloved little Tasty Donuts, and all kinds of general donut-themed foolishness is planned!  You can find more information about what’s in store here.

And big thanks to the fine folks over at Brand X for the shout out!

In town for a story about that new Disneyland opening? Working with colleagues at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner? Maybe you stayed here. Across the street.

It was the Case Hotel, at 11th and Broadway. The year was 1955.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

So back at the end of May I posted about the tiny  Anna’s hummingbird nest my sharp-eyed wife Susan found high up in the laurel tree that spreads over our front yard, and since then I’ve been keeping tabs on the momma as she patiently awaited her chicks’ arrival.

Sure enough they busted out of their shells sometime this morning, and once I discovered that most magnificent fact I hustled to capture the occasion by holding my digicam (mostly) steady up against the eyepiece of the 60x spotting scope and capture them as they were served breakfast. Enjoy:

It’s totally true; since 1970, when LA queers began marching in what became the annual Gay Pride Parade, we have sneakily invaded every corner of your hetero world.  From subculture to culture, you can’t tell us from you, or you from us!  This weekend, we are here to rub our invasion in your face: it’s Gay Pride Weekend, everyone, huzzah!  Various festivities in West Hollywood and Silver Lake are planned to remind you of how, even when we’re congregated en masse, we still look like you, and you us.

For the most part, West Hollywood is where you want to be, or want to avoid, depending on your tolerance for traffic and gays.  The guide to the family-friendly activities all around this gay ol’ town this weekend, after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry →

This has been a public service announcement. Thanks to Estevan for the heads up.

Things are getting very exciting over here at Donut Summit HQ!  Only three more days to go!  And we’ve been featured on Flavorpill, so we want to thank the fine folks over there for the awesome shout out!

And as you’re getting ready for Sunday, you might want to think about brushing up on your donut know-how, because if you think we’re just going to be eating donuts, think again:  we have all kinds of donut fun and games cooked up!  There will be donut trivia contests!  (Do you know who invented the donut?  Hint:  It wasn’t the Earl of Donut.)  There will  the Amazing Hands-Free Donut Eating Challenge!  And, for you literary types, there will be a prize for the best donut haiku!

To get you inspired, here is a donut poem that is not, in fact, a haiku, but rather, is modeled after the oeuvre of William Blake:

Cruller, cruller, burning bright,

In a strip mall late at night,

What immortal pastry

Could better harden arteries?

If that’s not inspiring, please, tell me what is.  And tell me in person, at the Donut Summit!  Sunday, 1pm, picnic area near the intersection of Vermont and Commonwealth Canyon in Griffith Park.  And BRING DONUTS!!

LAPD Bomb Squad by Clinton Steeds (2009)

I came home this evening to find a lot of police activity in my neighborhood and had to do a little detour. I realized that the happenings were pretty close to my street. In fact, one end of my street, about half a block from my house, was yellow taped off. I really wanted to find out what was going on, but wasn’t too keen on wandering over to the scene. I learned some basic information from a neighbor (suspicious package, homes evacuated), but I wanted to follow the progress.

Someone suggested I go to an online police scanner, which hadn’t occurred to me. I found what looks to be a pretty good resource. Radio Reference.com’s Los Angeles County page has live communication feeds from a variety of police, fire, and EMS departments. I tuned in to the Los Angeles Police and Fire-San Fernando Valley Divisions broadcast and  learned fairly quickly that the situation was resolved and that the “resources” were being released. In a relatively short period of time, I heard all kinds of things from animal bites to suspects being apprehended. I know I’m not the only one who get frustrated when up-to-the-minute info is not readily available, even on Twitter. You might want to bookmark this one.

I went to my local Koo Koo Roo in the Villa Marina Marketplace the other day, and, as the photo indicates, the place is now empty, with a “For Lease” sign in the window.  That’s too bad — I think Koo Koo Roo has good chicken and turkey for quick food, as well as good sides if one chooses carefully.

I did some research, and saw on Yelp that the Toluca Lake location has closed.  One commenter there wrote that all the locations are closing as well.

A few steps away from the Marina del Rey location is a Panda Express.  That doesn’t help me, but this particular Panda may reap the benefits of Koo Koo Gone.

I know lots of you are weary of politics and the difficulty this city seems to be having in the basics of operating.  But don’t let cynicism rule! Now is the time to make your voice heard, so get on down to the polling station and vote.  I’m taking a moment out of my crazy day to cast a vote for the people I hope will make living here easier.  Yes, Mr. Brown, that is YOU for the primary race for Governor.  I’m counting on your allegiance to not throwing around 90 million dollars (helloooo Republlican Meg Whitman) to get elected.  Hopefully that reflects your common man approach.

Also, gotta put the brakes on State Measure 16.  PG & E has poured millions and millions of dollars into this, trying to hoodwink the public into granting them a virtually monopoly and very little accountability.  A big no for me.  Big corporate entities have shown us their lack of responsibility all around and I’m not inclined to support them any more.

Kamala Harris gets my vote for Attorney General.  She seems the most sane…

Anyway, see you at the polls!

It’s never too early to start planning your weekend (you already have your Sunday afternoon booked with us at our Donut Summit, right?), so here’s another one to add to your weekend bucket: Darth. Vader. Helmets. Arti-fied.

A bit similar to the Yoka Bear project at Designer Con last year, the Vader Project began in 2007 by sending off a 1:1 replica of Darth Vader’s glorified asthma contraption to 75 artists, who used it as a canvass for their art.  Amanda Visell, Gary Baseman, Tim Biskup, Girls Drawin Girls, and Plasticgod are just a few of the LA artists who got inside Darth’s helmet head.  All helmets were showcased during the 2007 Star Wars Convention at the Convention center; three years later, after making their way through the Dagobah System (i.e., the Project went on a worldwide tour), the space Vaders are back in Los Angeles.  A few artists were added, and a total of 100 helmets will be on display for your nerd-tastic pleasure starting this weekend at SURU in West Hollywood.  While the exhibit runs until June 20th (after that, they will be sold at an auction in Philadelphia), if you’re going to go, go this weekend.  Friday from 6pm to 10pm is the opening party, complete with a DJ to put you in the cantina kind of mood, and on Saturday, a few of the artists in residence will be around to autograph the auction catalog.

I have a very good feeling about this.

The Vader Project runs from June 11 to June 20 at 6812 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles CA 90036.  It’s free!!!  Above, one of the Darth Vaders at the 2007 Star Wars convention.  Photo courtesy sjd52878 via the Metblogs Flickr pool.

I know it’s a Prius, but that still doesn’t mean you’re a walker.

Last year, the Los Angeles Times unveiled its Mapping LA project, in which it attempted to define the boundaries of some 87 distinct neighborhoods in the city.  Besides stirring up some decades-old debate over what really constitutes the “East Side,” it was an interesting experiment in city identity and even pride.  It looks like the Times is back with an expanded versions of its map – it now features a top-down view of 158 cities (including unincorporated areas) and 114 neighborhoods within LA proper.  If you click on a particular city, it’ll take you to a page where you can choose a particular neighborhood within that city; clicking on the neighborhood yields individual stats and demographics (i.e., diversity, income level) of that ‘hood.  Interesting, and an enormous time sucker, I’m sure.

One week until the Donut Summit!  Yay!  There have been some questions floating around about how things will run, so I’ve tried to answer them all below:

1.  What will happen at the Donut Summit?
It’s going to work a little something like this:

- The festivities kick off at 1pm. So, from about 1-1:30, we’ll have Donut Registration. Just show up with your Donuts, check in with our illustrious Metbloggers, and we’ll make sure your donut box is clearly labeled with the name of your donut shop.

- Once everyone’s donuts are registered (so, by about 1:30), donut tasting will begin and will last until about 2:30. We’ll have donut tasting stations set up, and we’ll provide you with a ballot for voting on your top donuts. We’ll have Donut Marshalls on hand cutting up donuts for sharing, so that everyone can taste lots of different donuts from all over the city.

- Once all of the ballots are submitted, we’ll tally the votes! While vote tallying is going on, you lucky people get to hang out with Metbloggers, and there will be fun and games!

- At around 3:30, we’ll crown the Donut King!
(Please note that all times listed above are approximate and subject to change!)

Read the rest of this entry →