Performance at PARK(ing) Day 2008

One of the bands performing at PARK(ing) Day 2008 on Winston at Main.

PARK(ing) Day 2008

One of the main sites for PARK(ing) Day LA 2008 is just outside my window. I'll be uploading photos to my PARK(ing) Day 2008 flickr set throughout the day. Here are a couple of photos.

Looks Like Lime is on the Block

Craigslist: $3800 / 2100ft² - Lime Cafe is looking for a partner or possibly a buyout

And to think, they just had their grand re-opening

Busted! at 4th and Main

Around 9:45 this evening Pam looked out one of my windows and shouted, "What's that!?!"



LAPD pulled over a reportedly stolen car and eventually carted away two suspects. More photos here

Anyone Need Some Stuff?

This afternoon, the following objects appeared on the curb of Main Street across from my apartment...



Update: As of 11:30 PM, the Sunbeam appliance and iMac are gone, but the TV and microwave are still there.

Lime's Grand Re-Opening

After a brief period in which it was open with a menu that attempted to have the same price for burritos, tacos, and tostadas, Lime Cafe shut its doors to revamp its offerings. The restaurant re-opened in the middle of July with a greater variety of choices and prices. To celebrate, there was a grand re-opening ceremony on July 31:

CRA's Warren Cooley (on left) and Historic Downtown Retail Project's MiguelAcuña (on right) stretch the ribbon to be cut.




LA City Councilwoman Jan Perry (9th district) holds the ribbon while Lime owner and operator Michael Franz cuts.




Julie Rico (owner of the Julie Rico Gallery which houses Lime Cafe and owner and operator of the adjacent restaurant Weeneez), Jan Perry (City Concilwoman for Los Angeles' 9th District), Michael Franz (owner and operator of Lime Cafe), and Don Garza (LA Town Crier) ring in the opening for Lime


More photos are here.

Well, I KNOW This Is New

Previously I asked if the lights on the Canadian Building were new. As blogdowntown post from three years ago shows, I just never noticed them. On the other-hand, I know this is new:




Sphinx Tattoo Studio and Gallery is now Main St. Tattoos.

Are These Lights New? (I Guess Not)

Looking out my window over Main Street this evening, I noticed what seemed to me, new lights on the Canadian Building at the corner of Main and Winston:



So, is it my imagination, or are those lights new?

Addendum I guess it is my imagination. There's a post on blogdowntown from three years ago documenting the new lights.

Thoughts on my first DLANC Election

Last Thursday, I voted in my first Downtown LA Neighborhood Council election. It was a very simple process. As I was allowed to vote for only three contests, I filled out my ballot in less than a minute. I went into the election with the assumption, that the election was by majority. Now that the unofficial results are coming in, I'm surprised to learn that election is by plurality. In the case of a tie, according to the Unofficial DLANC Weblog, the contest is decided by a coin-flip. That seems ridiculous.

Why not use Instant Run-off Voting? My first exposure to IRV was when I was a student at UC Berkeley. The Associated Students of the University of California has used IRV for its elections for its 5 officers and 20 senators for many years. If the ASUC can pull it off, why can't the DLANC?

It's Time to Vote

Today is election day. Sure, this election is not as sexy as a presidential primary (oh imagine if my fellow Californians had not voted to move up the date for presidential primary), but don't let this let down deter you from going to the polls. On the ballot are a couple of state initiatives that tackle eminent domain (prop 98 could result in the elimination of rent control).

Folks in the second supervisory district of LA county have an exciting race between Bernard Parks and Mark Ridley-Thomas. If I lived on the other side of the street, I would be voting in that contest.

Speaking of that, before going to the polls, check for the location of your polling place on line. It may have changed!

LA County Voters
Other California Counties

One voter living across the street from me told me that he votes in Little Tokyo; This morning I found out that he's supposed to vote at LA CAN.

Rosslyn Sign Lit Tonight!

While driving back from the Burbank Airport (with stops along the way at Costco, Ralphs, and Trader Joes) I missed the turnoff from the southbound 5 to the southbound 110. I instead, took the 4th Street exit. This turned out to be a good turn, because, while crossing the 4th Street bridge, I spied some lit neon (unfortunately, I couldn't stop and take a distant photo, so I had to wait until I got closer)...



They're filming at the Rosslyn Hotel tonight, so they had the hotel sign lit.

Not my view (fortunately)

Where do you think this was taken?



Would you believe Riverside?

My New View

My apologies for neglecting this blog. I've missed posting about a couple of art walks, the grand re-opening of the Museum of Neon Art and most importantly, my move from the Packard Lofts to GilVille. As I unpack stuff, I'll be catching up in the coming weeks.

Downtown LA Housing Bus Tour

On Saturday 3/8/08, I went on the Downtown Los Angleles Business Improvement District's Downtown Housing Bus Tour.

We visited

• The Mandel (for lease),
  
• The Union Lofts (for lease),
  
• Barker Block (for sale),
  
• The Chapman (for sale),
  
• Market Lofts (for sale), and
  
• 1100 Wilshire (for sale).

The photos are here on Flickr

Gotta Visit Sometime

After Will Campbell's post on LA Metblogs, I want to visit:


Photo courtesy of Coco's Variety Store

Two Films, Same Story

The Los Angeles ImaginAsian Center is showing a double-feature this week. Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo and Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars. If you're wondering why an Asian center would be showing a spaghetti western, remember that A Fistful of Dollars is based on Yojimbo. This double-feature allows you to compare the original with the remake. Interestingly enough, Yojimbo is based on Dashiell Hammett's novel Red Harvest.

Yahoo Maps Shows Downtown Neighborhoods

Over the weekend I needed to map at a route and went over to Yahoo Maps. I was noticed the map for downtown Los Angeles included color shading. When I zoomed in, I noticed labels for the neighborhoods:



It's not just downtown, or even just Los Angeles, but also in many other cities (such as San Francisco, Seattle, Philadelphia, Boston, and New York, to name a few).

Shaking my head at this...

The website for the 2008 LA Times Festival of Books is now on-line and slowly being updated. Hopefully someone rethinks some of the color choices on the public transportation page. Please?

Big Doin's on Sunday -- LA Marathon & LA Heritage Day

Sunday morning is the Los Angeles Marathon. If you know folks racing, you can track their progress. Since the portion of the course on 11th St. passes one block south of my apartment, hopefully I'll get enough warning to cheer on some friends of mine as they pass by.

Besides the marathon (which also includes an early morning bike ride and a 5k fun run/walk for those that don't want to run over 26 miles), tomorrow is the first ever LA Heritage Day at the Heritage Square Museum. This is an opportunity to visit with historical societies and museums from all over southern California presenting their communities' and Los Angeles’ heritage. The museum is open from 11:30 AM to 4:30 PM with tours on the hour from noon to 3:00 PM. Admission to the museum is $10 for adults, $5 for children aged 6-12, and free for museum members and children under 6. See the museum website for more details, including directions.

I've never been to Heritage Square, so this is as good a reason an any to visit.

Tonight! Two Free Shindigs in South Park

Tonight there will be two free shindigs going on in South Park aimed at downtown residents.

First, from 6 PM to 9 PM, the O Hotel is hosting a downtown residents night at the Oh! Restaurant and Bar (with complimentary Sangria). The O Hotel is located at 819 S. Flower St., just off the corner of 8th and Flower.

Then, starting at either 7:00 PM (if you go by the website) or 7:30 PM (if you go by their flyer and announcement in the LA downtown News), the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council will be hosting a mixer at the Figueroa Hotel. The Figueroa Hotel is located at 939 S. Figueroa St., between Olympic Blvd. and James M. Wood Blvd/9th St.

UPDATE! DLANC is saying that RSVPs are required. Get you name on the list by calling Mamta Patel at 310-428-3248 or e-mailing Greg Schumann at Greg@SouthCollection.com.

If you look at the map, you'll see that the two locations are very close to each other. I'd say, grab some free Sangria and check out the O Hotel around 6:30 and then wander over to the Figueroa Hotel around 7:30 for the DLANC Mixer. And if you live in South Park, be happy that you won't have far to walk home afterwards.