Have a nice weekend. Just do not have fun of any kind whatsoever, anywhere.

Sign found in Sherman Oaks

You could have lunch for 40 cents, in a blimp at Florence & Fig.

It was the Zep Diner. The year was 1931.

Photo from the Los Angeles Public Library.

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

If you ordered carpet, it most likely arrived by horse and buggy, from the very heart of the city.

It was the epicenter of commerce. Third & Spring, in Los Angeles.

The year was 1905.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

As a tribute to those who have died in service to Country, they marched on Spring Street. It was the Memorial Day Parade. American pride was on display in Downtown Los Angeles.

The year was 1915.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

I am now being followed by the Mayor of Los Angeles.

Do I consider this my crowning achievement as a Metblogs contributor? Yes. Do I think it will end well for either party? Probably not.

Consider my most recent tweet regarding @Villaraigosa, after the jump.

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Is there anything better than fishing at Echo Park? Not when you’re Molly & Jane. No sir.

The year was 1958.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

Decorative lanterns and stately lamp posts. Horse-drawn carriages and streetcars. Men and women, strolling about in the fashion of the day. Was there ever a more beautiful time or place?

It was Fifth and Hill, in Los Angeles. The year was 1910.

Photo from the USC Digital Library

13 years before an earthquake in Long Beach would render it useless, the red stone clock tower and ivy-covered walls of the Los Angeles County Courthouse stood proudly next to the more modern Hall of Records, at Temple & Broadway.

The year was 1920.

Photo from the USC Digital Archive

Before the Expo Line… Before the Santa Monica Air Line… There was the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad.  It ran on steam, and terminated at Fifth Street and San Pedro in Santa Monica. A trip from L.A. set you back $1.00.

The year was 1895.

Photo from USC Digital Library

This Auto Row on Van Nuys Boulevard was home to names like Studebaker, Buick, and Nash.

It was also home to the San Fernando Valley line of the Pacific Electric Railway.

The year was 1927.

Photo from USC Digital Library

Are Downtowners kinkier than their counterparts in Hollywood or the Valley? Or, is the Downtown News just a little more flexible when it comes to ad money?

Discuss.

I think it’s time we started cleaning up the place, don’t you?

I’ve noticed more and more of these billboard trailers popping up all over the Valley recently.  The one picture above is sitting near the corner of Riverside & Whitsett. With City Attorney Carmen Trutanich going after illegal billboards and supergraphics all over L.A., surely these little guys have to be next. Right?

Except that they are legal. Some city council members want to educate us on what to do. Maybe what we should do is elect someone who will get rid of this garbage.

Los Angeles is broke. It wouldn’t surprise anyone if the city’s electricity, cable, and internet was shut off for failure to pay. City workers have taken pay cuts, furlough days, and had their positions eliminated altogether. It’s for the greater good, according to elected officials.

Yet, 8 of those same elected officials are refusing to take pay cuts of their own. Not even a fraction of their bloated 6-figure salaries. Reasons vary from “I already fired enough of my staff,” to “I just don’t feel like it.”

So, in honor of March Madness, which of the Elite Eight will be the last to fall? Who will hold out the longest at their own political peril? Will it be the City Attorney who is on an Illegal Billboard Crusade? Or, the City Councilman who doesn’t live in his own home because a drifter keeps sneaking in to spend the night?

Face it, your basketball bracket cannot be saved. It is time for a new game. Play along!

OMG I have to run into Rite Aid real quick for my ointment

We like to post pictures here on Metblogs of the automotively challenged. Drivers who cannot park between the lines. We refer to them, affectionately, as Parking Tards.

But, friends, today we have something very special. A tard that overshoots the space completely, landing on the sidewalk.

Sherman Oaks. Riverside & Fulton.

Bravo.

Another angle of awesomeness after the jump.

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