The old Fox Hills mall in Culver City, where I have been many times, was a somewhat sleepy place.  Not any more.  In time for this past Christmas, the expanded and renamed Westfield Culver City shopping center unveiled itself to huge crowds.  The mall appears to be doubled in size, and now includes Target, Best Buy, H&M, Coach, BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, Manna Korean Barbeque, and a completely redone food court, er, “dining terrace.”  And it now has room for key elements of any good shopping mall: a giant Christmas tree, and new cars on display.

take a tour, after the jump

A friend of mine was all psyched a couple of weeks ago when she signed a contract for a condo in the Culver City area.  She had been shopping at or near the “low end” of the Los Angeles area housing market — $300k or less.   I have heard from more than one prospective buyer that, at this price level, there has been a bit of a buying frenzy.  Sellers are listing the homes for lowball prices in order to attract interest, and then buyers are bidding up the prices, offering cash, avoiding contingencies in their contracts, etc.  And the federal $8k tax credit is bringing in a lot of first time home buyers, such as my friend, at this level.

But my friend’s excitement turned to frustration and heartache as her lender’s appraisal came in many thousands below her contract price. Read the rest of this entry →

There are four million stories in the City of Angels (ten million in the County), and a bunch of them will be told at the 8th Annual L.A. Storytelling Festival. The Festival, which takes place on Saturday, November 14 at the Culver-Palms UMC Complex in Culver City, will feature stories, tales, concerts, workshops, and more.  Information about the Storytelling Festival, including the lineup of workshops, registration instructions, ticket prices, and directions, can be found at the event’s website here.

What’s the difference between a story and a tale?  Head to the Festival and find out!

From Museum of Jurassic Technology

Mount Wilson Road closed today at 6 a.m. after U.S. Forest Service authorities determined that the roaring fires could reach the mountain’s peak. Several radio towers for local broadcast outlets, as well as the historic Mt. Wilson Observatory, sit atop the 5,710-foot peak. The fate of the over-a-century-old facility is uncertain, but the importance of the observatory is undeniable. Designed by turn of the 19th century astronomer George Hale, who coined the term “astrophysics,” the Observatory realigned the way people viewed mankind as it related to the universe. Like the heliocentric model of Copernicus, which obliterated the concept of an Earth-centered universe, Hale’s experiments opened up the aperture on a more complex existence, where humans were perhaps as insignificant as tiny stars adrift in night sky. For some, astronomy struck at the heart of religion, while for others, gazing starward offered an ultimate advance in the search for God. The Museum of Jurassic Technology displays the epistemological questions, theories of God’s location, and Martian dreams sent on hotel stationery, postcards, and sloppily typed letters to Hale and the astronomers of the Observatory in the exhibit, No One May Ever Have The Same Knowledge Again: Letters to Mount Wilson Observatory.

Read the rest of this entry →

It was the Best Buy of times, ….  Last week, I went to the Fox Hills Mall in Culver City, which is undergoing a huge expansion.  As part of the expansion, Best Buy is installing a new store there.  Just inside the mall’s main entrance, Best Buy has set up a “hiring center.” Applicants are greeted with optimistic signs proclaiming “Your Opportunity” and “Your Enthusiasm,” complete with Best Buy’s bright blue and yellow color scheme.

But if you turn 180 degrees and look just across W. Slauson Avenue, you can see a drab grey building with maroon trim.  If you look at the series of dots across the top of the building, you can make out where the large “CIRCUIT CITY” sign was taken down when this and its other stores closed earlier this year.  Circuit City’s loss has obviously become Best Buy’s gain.
More of the tale, after the jump

Full disclosure: I love pizza.

More disclosure: I’m not from nor have I ever lived in New York.

So how do I know LaRocco’s Pizzeria is real New York Pizza? Because Paul and Sue LaRocco would not settle for anything less. Transplanted to LA from the Big Apple decades ago, they never lost their love for a good slice and opened their first pizzeria in the OC a few years back. Last year they got a hot tip about Culver City being a great place to be so they settled on Main Street about eight months ago and business has been very good. (It didn’t hurt that they have kids and grandkids in nearby Westchester!)

Okay, I can hear you saying, “Yeah yeah, that’s a touching story, Miss Non-New Yorker, but how would you know if it’s really authentic, really?” How about this: They import their water from New York to make their dough. Or this: When you ask about toppings Paul says, “Don’t even think about asking for pineapple or chicken, ’cause that ain’t pizza.”  They refer to them as “pies.” They only have one size: 18″. They open at 11 am and “when they run out of dough, they close…That’s it!”

And the dough is heaven in a cardboard box (or paper plate). Thin, but thick enough to support the toppings with a well practiced fold. Crispy with just enough chewiness so you can taste the flavor of the dough. The toppings are classic, with different options to keep you coming back for more. And the meats they use are the best quality pepperoni, sausage and meatballs made in traditional Italian style at Marisa Foods in Long Beach.

My friend Jenny who lives in Culver City had this to say: “We took a LaRocco’s pie to the home of one of the biggest NY pizza snobs we know- and he loved it. Loved.”

Still don’t believe me? Just go to LaRocco’s and taste for yourself.

LaRocco’s Pizzeria
3819 Main Street, Culver City
310-837-8345

Yes, they deliver!

Click past the jump for more mouthwatering photos.

Read the rest of this entry →

If you happen to park in one of the Culver City parking structures near Main Street and Culver Blvd and leave your car on one of the five floors of parking, you’ll be relieved to know that in the event of a fire there is one fire extinguisher down in the ticket booth on the ground floor.

WHAT???!!!

Seriously. Every other parking structure I’ve been in in my life like hundreds of these things all over the place, at least one in every corner on ever floor. When I ran a retail business in LA that was basically one large open room the fire inspector made sure I had two. How in the world does Culver City think it’s safe for this place to only have one? If there is a fire on the 5th floor, someone has to run down 5 flights of stairs then back up to even think about putting it out. Really???

You be the judge!

Last night’s preview party was fantastic, but let’s face it, it was just a warmup for tonight’s huge bash.

No invite required, so just show up to the

Corey Helford Gallery

7-10pm

(DISCLAIMER: Shameless Self Promotion coming at you in 3, 2, 1)

No secret my affiliation with COOP – so here’s news of the opening of Coop’s first show of paintings in three years.

It’s at the stupendously awesome Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City, and PLEASE come!

Party is Friday the 29th from 7-10pm and Coop and I will both be on hand so please step up and say hey!

COREY HELFORD GALLERY

8522 WASHINGTON BLVD

CULVER CITY

Party – open to the public -

FRIDAY MAY 29TH

7 – 10 pm

Following up on my Monday post about discovering work commencing on the restoration of the “Postcards of Ballona” mural in Culver City, I wanted to check in with an update in the form of a slapdashed pano of the mural taken as artists put finishing touches on it Wednesday evening (click to biggify):

Back in 1997 when artists Francois Bardol, Lucy Blake-Elahi, and Lori Escalera (together with Culver City Middle School students) painted the mural “Postcards from Ballona” just west of Overland Avenue along the entrance of the Ballona Creek Bikeway behind the Julian Dixon County Library branch, the wonderful work of art was intended as a beautification project that featured a film strip and postcards depicting images of Culver City’s landscape, film studio history, Ballona Creek wildlife, and local vegetation. An unintended consequence was the magnetic draw it had on taggers who defaced it practically to oblivion over the years.

Biking by this morning I was at first saddened to see the entire eyesore painted out, only to be pleasantly surprised to see the scene above: a start-from-scratch project undertaken by Escalera together with community volunteers working to return the magnificent mural back to its original pristine state.

Work, which began yesterday, is scheduled to be completed Wednesday, with one of the goals being to increase public awareness in hopes of better protecting the mural from future damage.

Last July I posted about newly installed signage announcing the closure until February 2009 of the Ballona Creek Bikeway from its inland-most terminus beside McManus Park at National Boulevard to Duquesne Street in Culver City.

Well of course that seven-month timeframe came and went and has now entered its eighth month, and seeing as the closure is tied in to continuing work on the Metro Expo Line bridge passing over the creek, it’s no surprise that section of bikeway is still off limits. At the same time I figured we might be getting close to a re-opening, mightn’t we?

Not even. Upon entering the bikeway at Duquesne for my westward creekside stretch across it to Inglewood Avenue  I found that someone presumably with the MTA had spun the deadline slot machine and the new date for the next revised closure date renewed access is (image is clickably embiggenable if required):

That’s right folks, November 2011 is apparently the next month and year we’ll be able to ride that entirely unremarkable section of the bikeway. At only 32 months beyond the eight it’s been closed already, I’d say the MTA only missed it by thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat much.

Tender Greens in Culver City is one of my all time favorite places to eat. I’m currently on a short job in CC and have been twice this week, with plans to go back again at least once next week. They mainly serve gorgeous fresh salads but you can get chicken, steak and ahi sandwiches as well. The way the place is set up, you watch them prepare your food and I noticed the people putting the salads together work hard to make the food look beautiful on your plate.

Pictured here is the Happy Vegan — a combo of four scoops of various salads: hummus, cous cous, beet/quinoa and faro, plus a large pile of greens. The soup is fresh tomato with a squirt of basil oil and croutons. Oh so yummalicious and I’m not one who’s big on tomato soup.

I started following them on twitter and found out that they are going to be opening in WeHo very very soon (within a few weeks). Hooray! Eating great food that’s good for you has never been so easy.

Culver City location:
9523 Culver Blvd., Culver City
WeHo to come:
8759 Santa Monica Blvd.

Tender Greens
Twitter = @TenderGreens

I went to Bed Bath and Beyond Budget in Culver City today to play the 20% coupon game (where you’re supposed to feel like you got a deal by using their 20% off coupons to offset their marked-up prices), and found the place surprisingly empty.  Was this a sign of the Next Great Depression?

Granted, it was mid-afternoon, likely an off hour between lunch time and after work.  And perhaps BBBB is not a Christmas shopping destination, except for practical people like me.

vacuum cleaner bags?  you shouldn’t have!  really, you shouldn’t have.

Indeed, the parking lot was pretty full, so maybe hordes of Christmas shoppers were next door at Target, where you can buy toys and iPods with your household cleaning fluids.

I did my part, picking up a fancy photo album covered in nice dead cow for one of “my people.”  But I have to wonder what Christmas is going to be like this year, in Culver City and elsewhere.

(click to enlarge the two-frame pano for better legibility)

As found this morning on the Ballona Creek Bikeway under Overland Avenue on my commute to work — and mere moments before the almost ever-present and duly diligent Culver City graffiti abatement crewmember began painting it out.

“Not your average tag,” I said to him after dismounting, and with several quick shots of compressed air through his sprayer’s nozzle he smiled and nodded in agreement. I attempted to capture the statement in a single snap, but stepping backward I ended up pressed up against the bridge support with only “I’m a human being God damn it. My life has” fitting into the frame. “Value” was out of reach… wide right.

Is it ironic to proclaim one’s worth in so worthless a manner; to present such lofty sentiment from the dank shadows beneath the surface; to argue such an ideal in so not idyllic a place? Or is the greater irony found in the validation that comes from bringing this truth up from where it now lies buried under a layer of fresh cover-up paint for the rest of us to see?