Indie-Rock Bakery

This was happening.

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 00:11:53 -0700

This was happening.

Strangers on a Train

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 22:32:12 -0700

Mike Anton takes a ride on the Blue Line.

The Metro Blue Line cuts up the middle of Los Angeles County, from Long Beach to downtown, like a surgical incision, exposing an element of the metropolis many never see.

In a place dominated by freeways and the automobile’s numbing isolation, the 22-mile light-rail line—the oldest in L.A. County, marking 20 years of service this summer—is a rolling improvisational theater where a cast of thousands acts out a daily drama that is by turns poignant, sad, hysterical and inexplicable.

"I do not advocate flip-flops."

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:21:42 -0700

“I do not advocate flip-flops.”

- Menswear designer Thom Browne

Chris Knight: Free MOCA

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 01:55:41 -0700

Chris Knight: Free MOCA:

When Jeffrey Deitch takes the helm Tuesday as MOCA’s fourth director in 30 years, he’ll face the problem [of declining attendance]. If I were him, I’d do two things fast: Change the museum’s operating hours and drop the general admission price, from $10 to zero.

Second that.

Doyers won.

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 01:53:03 -0700

Doyers won.

Kobe: How you like me now, Alvin?Alvin: [swoons]

Sun, 30 May 2010 10:03:01 -0700

Kobe: How you like me now, Alvin?
Alvin: [swoons]

The Bartender's Bartender

Fri, 28 May 2010 17:18:01 -0700

The Bartender's Bartender:

Meet Doug Quinn, the man behind the bar at P.J. Clarke’s, in New York.

He remembered what my companion and I were drinking, even though we had ordered just one round so far, and there were at least 35 people clumped around the bar on this early May night, and he was dealing—alone—with all the tickets from all the servers in the adjacent dining rooms, and he wasn’t writing anything down, not that I could see.

Then there’s this:

He packs a double-wide opener so he can flick the lids off two beer bottles at once. When smoking was allowed, he carried 10 lighters, because some would get wet and some lost, and he didn’t want to lose a second or a step by having to fetch another.

But being armed and agile isn’t the half of it. “A great bartender will get you a date for the evening, get you a job and get you a new apartment,” he said.

This profile is the first installment of the Tipsy Diaries, a new column by Frank Bruni, the former NYT food critic.

Best $9.50 I ever spent. (Huh?)

Thu, 27 May 2010 20:18:00 -0700

Best $9.50 I ever spent. (Huh?)

"Is this the Short Stop?"

Wed, 19 May 2010 10:52:20 -0700

“Is this the Short Stop?”

- Girl at Little Joy last night

Reppin’ Koreatown. Via MBLA.

Fri, 07 May 2010 11:11:15 -0700

Reppin’ Koreatown. Via MBLA.

"I think I love restaurants more than I love food. Because restaurants have everything in them: They..."

Wed, 28 Apr 2010 10:57:14 -0700

“I think I love restaurants more than I love food. Because restaurants have everything in them: They have the people, they have the food, they have the wine, they have the experience, they have the possibility of enjoying yourself with the person across the table from you. I’m not a foodie, but if there was such a thing as a restaurantie, I would be that.”

- Alan Richman, restaurant critic

"We don’t know what Los Angeles is. We never have, except as a container for extravagant dreams and..."

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 21:44:00 -0700

“We don’t know what Los Angeles is. We never have, except as a container for extravagant dreams and the inevitable discontent that follows extravagance. But Los Angeles is surely something like a city.”

- D.J. Waldie, “What Is a City?”

In no way related to the previous post: Paraiso indeed.

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:24:29 -0700

In no way related to the previous post: Paraiso indeed.

"You almost never see a person who self-identifies as a hipster; you are much more likely to be left..."

Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:21:54 -0700

“You almost never see a person who self-identifies as a hipster; you are much more likely to be left to cobble together a definition of ‘hipster’ from the empty spaces left behind after everybody else is through defining themselves as emphatically, in no way, under no circumstances, any kind of a hipster.”

- Linda Holmes, “Hunting the Elusive Hipster”

Angel’s Flight, back in action.

Fri, 09 Apr 2010 13:11:39 -0700

Angel’s Flight, back in action.

5th & Grand to Be Named John Fante Square

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:46:58 -0700

5th & Grand to Be Named John Fante Square:

The intersection of Fifth Street and Grand Avenue in downtown Los Angeles will be christened John Fante Square on April 8. Fante is best known as the author of Ask the Dust.

"As far as the home of a living art is concerned, Hollywood has no importance. It may be a useful..."

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:37:12 -0700

“As far as the home of a living art is concerned, Hollywood has no importance. It may be a useful laboratory for technical experiment.”

- Evelyn Waugh, “Why Hollywood Is a Term of Disparagement” (1947)

Freedom of the Press, v2.0

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:26:00 -0700

Freedom of the Press, v2.0:

Self-publishing is no longer limited to books and magazines, thanks to Newspaper Club. (Via TMN)

I think I’m going to give this a spin. Please holler if you’re interested.

So good, so good, so good.

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:58:56 -0800

So good, so good, so good.

Photo

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 15:59:48 -0800