September 2009
9 posts
“Don’t speak loudly, smile or use superlatives—all these are the marks of...”
– The Financial Times has some tips for understanding Parisians.
August 2009
20 posts
99 Problems, but a Meal Ain't One →
Pulitzer-winning LA Weekly food critic Jonathan Gold is back with his annual “99 Essential Restaurants.” Downtown is well-represented, with Church & State, Bottega Louie and Wurstküche all newly added to the list. But the rookie of the year is undoubtedly the Kogi truck, which Gold calls “a new paradigm of a restaurant.”
Another ‘Day’ →
New Directions has just reissued Nathanael West’s The Day of the Locust, one of the Big 3 novels written about Los Angeles and published in 1939 (the other two being Ask the Dust and The Big Sleep). Richard Rayner in the Los Angeles Times has some background on the writing of the book.
Los Angeles has been the subject of, and setting for, many fine novels, yet The Day of the Locust still...
Tips for Staying Healthy While Traveling Abroad →
How to prepare and what precautions to take once you’re there. From the NYT’s Frugal Traveler blog.
The Fallen King →
Back in 2003, the New York Times told the story of Julian E. Montoya, the man who would be Burrito King.
Starting with one taco stand at Sunset Boulevard and Alvarado Street in the late 1960s, he had built a burrito empire stretching from Anaheim, Calif., to Bogotá, Colombia.
It started like the American dream, only be to troubled by rivals, backstabbing, managerial missteps and the trappings of...
“That is one last thing to remember: writers are always selling somebody out.”
– Joan Didion, in the preface to Slouching Towards Bethlehem
WatchSelected photos from “Plays Well With Others,” presented by LIP mag and featuring work by our own Mark Rubenstein. With appearances by INFY, EOTS, Devo, IBV and more. More photos (not by IRB) here.
“I don’t see us as a direct competitor to the New York Times any more. They...”
– Russ Stanton, editor of the L.A. Times
Shop Talk →
John McIntyre, the former copy desk chief of the Baltimore Sun, offers a non-exhaustive list of newsroom lingo delivered in his usual droll style. A few favorites:
byline (n.) The reporter’s name at the tip of an article; the most important component of an article.
goat-choker (n.) An article of inordinate and suffocating length, produced to gratify the vanity of the author and the...
Europe 20 Different Ways →
In case you’re totally over Europe (show of hands?), GQ has some suggestions on how to keep things interesting.
Eating Right →
The U.S. agricultural industry can now produce unlimited quantities of meat and grains at remarkably cheap prices. But it does so at a high cost to the environment, animals and humans. […]
Unless Americans radically rethink the way they grow and consume food, they face a future of eroded farmland, hollowed-out countryside, scarier germs, higher health costs—and bland taste.A Newsweek piece...
“Empress Pavilion has always been one of the best two or three places for dim sum...”
– The often-controversial Jonathan Gold, in Counter Intelligence. INFY, EOTS and I were there Sunday and enjoyed ourselves. Thoughts?
Turnstiles in Style at the MTA →
The MTA is moving ahead with a plan to install more turnstiles at L.A. train stations (as voted on back in November).
Eight turnstiles are in use on a trial basis at the Alameda Street portal for the Red Line stop in Union Station, and five are operating at the Wilshire-Normandie station. By the end of the month, 12 turnstiles are scheduled to be installed at the Pershing Square station and 10 at...
Lakers 3-on-3 Tournament This Weekend →
The Lakers and Staples Center are hosting a three-on-three basketball tourney this weekend with brackets for all different skill levels. INFY, Empire and I thought about signing up but decided to give everyone else a chance to win. Anyway, we’ll be heading down there at least one of the two days, so holler if you’re interested.
Do the Jerk →
Everyone calls jerkin’ a “movement,” but this feels like revolution. Consider it the revenge of the millennials—skipping the po-faced posturing of the previous generation’s gangsta rap for the rap-rock roller-skate bounce that preceded it.The LA Weekly traces the rise of jerkin’, from high school parking lots to MySpace to mainstream record labels.
Taco Trucks and the Politics of Parking →
Eastsider L.A. has a post about how hipster Councilman Eric Garcetti brokered a deal between the Tacos Arizas truck and the Echo Park residents who complained about the accompanying noise and litter. Arizas moved across Sunset, where it can now be found most nights.
That explains why Arizas moved, but is anyone else wondering what ever happened to Tacos Arabes, which used to park in the current...