Well, my shift is almost over. Jozjozjoz has arrived to take over for the next few hours.

The one thing I’ve noticed most about spending time here is the personal relationship the waitresses build with their regulars. Our waitress knew the names of everyone she was serving.

Behind me, a guy has a loud phone call: “Hey, Jim, guess what?! We got Yelped! Not a good Yelp though. It was like one star. They guy said he wasn’t happy with the cut. What did he bring in–a photo of a celebrity? And he asked for that hair?” [silence] “No worries, no worries. It was just smooth then? Blowout? Well, no problem. I’ll be back soon.”

I ordered like seventeen desserts as a selfless service to you, the reader.

I ATE ALL OF THESE FOR YOU

Wow, I look fatter already! It’s the fries.

Nom!

We’re here at the diner counter at Canter’s Deli. I am about to order. Wish me luck.

The Blogathon from Canter’s deli will still be happening all day, and the Donut Summit must go on! Have no fears, my pets. All the powers of Hell itself could not stop the donut (or bagel) train when it’s a’coming. Stop by Canter’s today, tonight, or tomorrow before 12pm with a can of food and a hug for your Metblogs laborers. We’re all a little weepy, but it’s been such a fantastic privelege to write for you all. Wouldn’t have traded it for the world.

But maybe a dozen strawberry-filleds from Donut Man will fill this yawning writer’s hole in my chest.

Remember how, on Star Trek: The Next Generation, you’d be at the final act of the episode, and all would seem lost, and then Geordi LaForge would pull some technobabble out of his ass that would totally save the day? Everyone would be all OH NO WE’RE ALL GONNA BE ASSIMILATED and then Geordi would get a look of dawning comprehension on his face and say something like “What if I recalibrate the transverse phase array to produce a tachyon pulse?” And it would totally work, and everyone would pat Will Riker on the back for a job well done.

So why am I reminiscing about this? Because tonight on Wilshire, Geordi LaForge is gonna be recalibrating the transverse phase array… of your Midori sour.

That’s right: Tonight, from 7 PM to 11 PM, LeVar Burton – who you also know as Kunta Kinte from Roots, and of course  from Reading Rainbow – will be serving as your Celebrity Bartender, mixing drinks behind the bar at Life on Wilshire. I’ve never been to Life, but I have seen every episode of TNG, so, y’know, Life could be a rat-infested hole in the wall and I’d try to go. (DISCLAIMER: Life is NOT a rat-infested hole in the wall.) So: Tonight. 7 PM. 6311 Wilshire Boulevard. LeVar Burton.

But don’t take my word for it.

What happens when you put three Metblogging ladies in a room with a few dozen donuts and a photographer?  Well, let’s just say that many, many donuts were harmed in the making of this photo:

So, yeah.  The Donut Summit is clearly going to be the social event of the season.  The deets, in case you’ve missed them:

When?  Sunday, June 13, 1pm

Where?  Griffith Park Picnic Area near Vermont, under our GIANT DONUT signs.

Price of admission: Between one to 12 donuts, either sourced at your fave donut shop OR, yes, you CAN make your own. Label box or bag with the name of the donut maker.

Donuts will be labeled by shop of origin and voted on by category, and one lucky donut shop will walk away with the crown and scepter of LOS ANGELES DONUT KING/QUEEN, regardless of whether or not that really is the name of his/her store.

And as if that weren’t enough, there will be games, goodies, limited edition artist t-shirts (for a donation) and more greasy, carby, sugar-coated fun than you can shake a stick at.

A Girl and Her Coachella

Yes, I realize that Coachella 2010 was a few weeks ago, and, especially in Internet speak, that’s just eons ago.  But, as they may or may not say backstage, better late than never, eh?  Rather than bore you with scenes of how surprisingly awesome certain bands were (Phoenix, really?), and how some of them were not so much (XX, I love you, but not at 6pm) – I’m going to just toss out a few things I spotted in the desert during the weekend.

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ReForm School in Silver Lake is having their first ever sidewalk sale this Saturday, May 8th from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

Lots of stuff will be marked down with many items below wholesale prices. Mark downs include Esther Derkx, Marimekko, Roost, Ting London (pillows), Zaishu and much more.

Word about the Donut Summit is spreading like wildfire over the interwebs!  They’re talking about it over at the LA Weekly’s Squid Ink; at NBC LA; and over at Food is my Nish, there’s an awesome list of Donut Summit-inspired local gourmet donut options!  So exciting!

And now, dear readers, a challenge for you:  Help me come up with some good categories that we can judge donuts on!  Here’s a few to get us started:

Best old-fashioned

Best filled donut

Best vegan donut

Best apple fritter

Best glaze

Best maple donut

Most unconventional donut

Most visually attractive donut

…and that’s all I’ve got.  I know you can do better than me!

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

F*(k it, Dude. Let’s go Bowling.

“Sometimes there’s a man… I won’t say a hero, ’cause, what’s a hero? But sometimes, there’s a man, and I’m talkin’ about the Dude here, sometimes, there’s a man, well, he’s the man for his time and place. He fits right in there. And that’s the Dude, in Los Angeles.”

When we first discussed doing this series, we considered the tagline, “Except Chinatown,” because it was just too obvious.

I start to wonder if The Big Lebowski couldn’t have gotten the same pass.

Many of the characters and situations were inspired by real people and events in Los Angeles county. And, while it might be reasonable to assume that may be the case for more movies than are immediately apparent, it seems the people and events that inspired this movie could only have lived in and taken place here.

Where else but L.A. would one encounter someone who called himself “The Dude?” Real guy. The final character is from a couple sources, but there really is/was a “Dude.”

The Coen Brothers wanted the events to unfold like a Raymond Chandler story. Quintessential Los Angeles. Yet,  as the narrative is told by “The Stranger, ” a cowboy, who tells us the story happens “Way Out West,” he  describes our little town to the tune of “Tumbling Tumbleweeds,” like we’re about to see an old Singing Cowboy movie. Completely different, yet still quintessential Hollywood.

Shortly thereafter the theme song changes to a track by Randy Newman.

Pornographers, surly Malibu Police Chief, rundown 20′s deco Hollywood apartments, Sex-starved starlets, Ralph’s, all of L.A. is crammed into this movie. And I just have to say, I miss the Hollywood Star Lanes, that place was awesome.

So much has been written and this movie has been so celebrated in so many unique ways, I can barely touch upon it here. Lebowskifest, The Knave or Two Gentleen of Lebowski – The Shakespearian take on the screenplay, The Achievers (And Proud we are of all of them) that organize Lebowskifest, among other things. It’s so quotable, so accessible,  so laid-back, taking the truly bizarre as mundane day-to-day occurrence, so, not only Los Angeles, but that unnameable essence of what I love about L.A., it’s no wonder this film has lasted the way it has.

It Abides.  The Dude Abides and the film The Big Lebowski Abides. And, y’know what? Los Angeles Abides.

And I most certainly take a certain comfort in that.

This post is part of the L.A. Plays Itself in the Movies series. For a listing of posts in this series, click here.

Picture it, 1988. The Valley. An alien space ship crash lands in a suburban swimming pool and their savior mentor for life on earth is a “val” named appropriately Val.   Its high camp, cult classic life turned into lampooning caricature of LA circa late 1980′s.

From cruising “the boulevard” to other slice of life bits the film pretty well covers the LA Scene of the era, albeit as cartoony as Roger Rabbit.   Even the Griffith Park Observatory plays a cameo as the “Deca Disco”. Best line in the movie: “You’re so lucky you crashed in The Valley, its the baddest place on earth”. Indeed.

All the cast info you could want is over on the IMDB. In the mean time enjoy a clip from the movie. (Including one extra after the jump).

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Future Noir in an Overpopulated City of Angels

Several years ago, when I lived in Hollywood, my apartment was on the fifth floor. It was a twenties era place, very Art Deco.

I had a view of the Hollywood sign, and could see the giant billboard and digital marque of the then-new Hollywood and Highland mall from my window, looming over the neon waitress of Mel’s Diner.

One evening, and I remember this very clearly, the Police Helicopters were particularly loud, invading my room along with the heat and neon though the mini blinds. I was jarred from the Anime program I was watching, giving me a distinctly creepy feeling as I typed messages to a friend half a world away on my computer. It took me a few moments to comprehend what was causing this uneasy feeling, as the flying police vehicle circled its spotlight over my building once again.

It had happened.

I had entered the Dystopian Future. I was living in it.

I was practically a Nexus 6 Model away from living in Blade Runner.
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In addition to being a just plain fun movie and tribute to so many classic hand-drawn cartoon characters (Disney characters! Warner Bros. characters! and Fleischer characters! All together!), Who Framed Roger Rabbit is also a tribute to the Hollywood of yesteryear – when Hollywood the industry actually existed in Hollywood the place, and the Hollywood sign was still a big advertisement for the “Hollywoodland” real estate development (Fun fact: a Hollywoodland poster makes a cameo in the film, but when you see the sign and Cahuenga Peak in the background outside Eddie Valiant’s office, it only says “Hollywood” – it wasn’t actually changed until two years after the film takes place. Yes I am a nerd.). I love that it’s all about the real Los Angeles, where it was founded – what’s inland a bit, surrounding the river (the Glendale-Hyperion bridge does make an appearance!), not just palm trees and beaches like those shown in far too many films.

Oh, and apparently back then people said things like, “Who needs a car in LA? We’ve got the best public transportation system in the world!” Yea, that’s about when I started laughing/crying/exclaiming about how now they’re just picking on me, a car-free transit geek. It had been a few years since I’ve seen Who Framed Roger Rabbit, so I got caught off guard and a little emotional. But at first it was wonderful, when just a few minutes in one of those Big Red Cars with “Sunset Blvd” splayed across the top pulled into frame, and I was transported into some magical version of Los Angeles where the public transportation vehicles and the automobiles co-existed in happiness along our city’s major thoroughfares (I get so sad every time I remember that the big median down Eagle Rock Blvd. is just covering up where the Red Car tracks used to be!).

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