Experiencing L.A. on a "Daddy/Daughter Date" - in Westwood

Back in the Spring of 2009 my daughter really wanted to take the bus into Westwood Village, for a special "daddy daughter date." We could - of course - have driven, but she really was excited about taking a bus. 

By the way, that Statue of Liberty billboard on the right of the photo above isn't a billboard - it's the side of a twelve story building.


Much of Westwood Village isn't much of a "village" anymore. This is at the corner of Westwood & Wilshire Blvds. With over 100,000 cars traveling through on an average day, it's one of the busiest intersections in Los Angeles.


This is to prove that - yes - we did take the bus. The MTA driver was super friendly, and there was zero traffic into Westwood (it was a Saturday). I actually walked from our home to Westwood Village a couple of times (long walks). Riding with my daughter = much more fun!


This is much more of the "village" of Westwood Village: on Broxton Avenue, with the "Fox Village" movie theater visible in the distance through the trees. In addition to being the home of UCLA (my alma mater), Westwood has (or up until recently had) the highest concentration of single screen movie theaters in the world.

At this exact same spot a year or so later, I came across the Steve Carrell fim "Dinner For Schmucks" being filmed. Apparently, Broxton Avenue in Westwood Village is a popular "on location" site. Here's a link to a previous post on what that was all about. 

Westwood Village, circa 1980. Anyone else remember those weekend art shows? 

While still a nice place to visit, Westwood is not longer the entertainment "mecca" it was in the 1980's. Found this photo on the "Vintage Los Angeles" Facebook site.


Westwood is technically part of the city of Los Angeles.

Westwood, as well as places like Brentwood, Hollywood, Venice are all communities within the city limits of Los Angeles. Meanwhile ... Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and Pasadena are all separate, independent cities. Confused? Don't be. Even people who've lived here their entire lives aren't sure what's part of the city of L.A. - and what's not. Here's a link to a previous post on what's is - and what's not - part of the city of Los Angeles.


Lunch at Subway: my daughter's choice. If you're in Westwood and looking for a place to park, I highly recommend the public parking garage at 1036 Broxton Aveune. The first two hours are free.


Dessert at Diddy Riese. Now we're talking!


Huge line out the door. Yummy ice cream and cookies - at a price that blows away all competition.


Their big cookie ice cream sandwich is just $1.50. THAT'S why there's almost always a line. 


We decided to take a completely different bus route home. It involved a transfer, but my daughter was really excited about the prospect of going a different way and taking two buses home (twice as fun).

We loved being able to help our kids engage with the city, even in small ways like this. 3000 years ago King Solomon wrote "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). 

This verse is often limited to what some might see as "religious instruction" - rather than all of life. Thinking out loud, I wonder if my daughter will even want her parents to show her how to ride the bus - where to get on, how to make a transfer, how to read a schedule - when she's older. How much better to have her mom and me start to show her now.

Even on a "date" with her dad. 

Welcome Aboard. 


View Diddy Riese, Westwood Village, Los Angeles in a larger map

© 2012 www.experiencingla.com

originally posted 3/7/09

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Rediscovering the Fox Carthay Theater - at the Fox Village, Westwood

The Fox Carthay Circle Theater was one of the most famous and successful movie palaces during Hollywood's Golden Age. The theater opened in 1926 and was the site of numerous Hollywood premiers, including Walt Disney's Snow White in 1937. Changing demographics and economic challenges forced the theater to close in 1969. It was, unfortunately, torn down soon afterwards. 

While the Fox Carthay Circle Theater is no longer around, it's "younger cousin" - the Fox Westwood Village - is. And, according to a wikipedia article, it's considered one of - if not the -  best movie premiere venues in the world.

The Fox Village Theater (now owned by Regency, so it's also called the "Regency Village Theater") is located in Westwood Village, just a block away from UCLA. 

Back in March 2009, I took my kids to see the kid film "Monsters vs Aliens" at the Fox Theater in Westwod (here's a link to my thoughts on the film). We were there around 11am and because it was still Spring Break, it was really quiet.


The Fox was built in 1930 and opened in 1931, just five years after the Fox Carthay Circle. 

When I was a student at UCLA I really wanted to find a way to climb to the top of that tower. 

As an aside, here's a YouTube video of actor Robert Redford doing just that, circa 1965. 

No climbing when we went. Just excited to see the show. This was 2009: my kids were 9 1/2 and 7 at the time.

I took the rest of these photos after we saw the movie (and the small mid-day audience left). It's really a unique and amazing theater!

The lobby - like everything is with this theater is massive - with some beautiful detail.

The drinking fountain. Beautiful tile work.

An amazing bass relief in the lobby. The gold-miner theme is again similar in many ways to the old Fox Carthy Circle Theater. I can't imagine this being green-lighted in a theater built today. But then again, The Fox Village is now over 80 years old.

The steps leading up to the balcony ... and bathrooms.

Artwork: check.

Along the walls upstairs: old photos of the theater from over the years.

Back when it opened. Look at the car to the right.

The Fox is still used for major Hollywood premiers by the Studios. Films that have had their world premier have included: James Bond, JFK, Mission Impossible, Batman, Harry Potter, Independence Day, Terminator - and hundreds of others. 

I was working at UCLA in November 2009, when I literally walked by the Fox Village before the world premiere for "Twilight New Moon" (no, I didn't stick around). Here's a link to what that was like. 

The auditorium is just massive, seating close to 1400 people. It has to be one of the largest single screen theaters in Los Angeles. And, thanks to renovations in 1999, it's in fantastic shape. I would definitely recommend seeing a movie here.

Even the ceiling is impressive!

The Fox Village was built just two years after sound was introduced to motion pictures. Really incredible. Yet movies are based on one thing: stories.

Stories capture our imaginations, they move our heads and our hearts. They're incredibly influential. What do my kids want to hear when I tuck them in at night? A story.

As a campus minister, I'm reminded that Jesus did much of His teaching in parables, stories. They were immediately remembered by His audience, and His opponents. To this day, the stories and parables Jesus told continue to transform the lives of millions of men and women, in countries and cultures the world over.

A couple days after I was inside the Fox Village Theater, I had the privilege of meeting over coffee with a young film maker whose upcoming film will be showing in the Cannes Film Festival. He's a Christian, committed to bringing his faith and his world-view into what he does. Fantastic, really. I wish him all the best.

The Fox was built when, aside from radio and print medium, movies were the only way of conveying story. Yet, despite advances in technology, that's what it all comes back to. Or, at least it should. 

photo credit: www.mrdaps.com

Meanwhile, if you still want to see the Fox Carthay Circle Theater, the folks from Burbank have just put the finishing touches on what looks like a spectacular replica down in Anaheim - the centerpiece of the new "Buena Vista Street" in the Disney California Adventure park, opening this weekend. Looks like they've done a great job. 

photo credit: www.dlandlive.com

Their Carthay Circle Theater is actually a high-end restaurant, in the spirit of the old Brown Derby. Nice, but bring your wallet.

If you want to experience the real deal - that is, see a film in one of the most significant movie theaters in the world, head on over the the Fox Village Theater in Westwood. Call ahead: if you time it right, you might even be able to get a glimpse of a Hollywood premiere. 

View Fox Village Theater, Westwood in a larger map

© 2012 www.experiencingla.com - originally posted 3/29/2009

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Korean + Mexican + Westwood = L.A. Taco Truck Experience

A couple years back I was in Westwood Village (next to UCLA) when I spotted one of the "speciality" Taco Trucks that have popped up over Los Angeles in the last few years. I'd heard about these things, and wanted to experience one for myself.


Bool BBQ is more than your standard Taco Truck. They specialize in Korean BBQ Tacos. 
I like Korean food - I like Tacos. So, this being Los Angeles, why not try a Korean Taco?




I actually settled for the Burrito al Carbon with Korean BBQ Beef (2nd item on the menu). It was one of the best - maybe the best - burrito I've ever had. Mmm.




In addition to standard can sodas, they also have "Pure Cane Sugar Mexican Coke." There's actually a market for Coca-Cola made in Mexico and sold here. I decided to do my teeth (and my pocketbook) a favor and stick with I bottled water I had with me. 

Apparently, these speciality Taco Trucks have loyal followers. But how do you find them? Two choices: Twitter, or this new website I found:www.findlafoodtrucks.com 


From their site: What up Bro? How you doing girl? You hungry for that food truck grub? Of course you are. Well,www.FindLaFoodTrucks.com is the easiest way to figure out where your favorite trucks are. As you probably already know, LA has experienced an explosion in gourmet food trucks serving every type of food, including mexican, korean, bbq, contemporary american, desserts, ice cream, and various fusion cuisines. Who has the time to go to a bunch of different twitters and websites to figure out where they are? Luckily, you have us. We track all the trucks twitters right here, so it is quick and easy to figure out which ones are close to you. 

 
Not everyone is in love with these gourmet food trucks. A local restaurant owner confronted me while I was deciding what to order at Bool BBQ, loudly stating: "They don't have a restroom! Where can you wash your hands? Where can you sit? Why don't you thrown your trash on the sidewalk when you're done? Everybody else does. They don't pay taxes! They don't pay rent!" 

While no body likes confrontation - I think he has a point. The Los Angeles City Council recently voted in favor of the Taco Trucks. Great for the owners (and workers) on the trucks, as well as Angelenos looking for a cheap bite to eat. 

Not so great for the restaurant and fast food owners, who do pay rent, who do pay taxes. Although, I would guess that the Taco Trucks do pay taxes - but to what city? They're mobile: so how is this tracked? 

A better solution (in my non professional opinion) would be for landlords to think about lowering their rents. Places like Westwood are already awash in vacancies. Empty storefronts don't help anyone.

How about the city making it easier for restaurants and small businesses to thrive alongside these mobile food trucks? Shouldn't the city be encouraging - rather than discouraging - entrepreneurship?

I'm probably not going to "track" these mobile food trucks - either on Twitter or on the web. On the other hand, if I see Bool BBQ around lunchtime in Westwood, I'll definitely skip a sandwich at Subway and be back. 

(originally posted 9/26/2009) © 2011 www.experiencingla.com

Two Worlds

Last October, Broxton Avenue in Westwood was closed for the day for yet another Hollywood Premiere at the Mann Village Theater.

The proximity to Bel Air, Beverly Hills and the rest of the L.A. "Westside," as well as the size of the theater and the ability to close down an entire city street makes the Mann Village Theater (originally, the Fox Village Theater) a top choice for Hollywood Premieres.

Here's a link to a previous post on the theater itself: http://www.experiencingla.com/2009/03/fox-theater-westwood-village.html

I'm always amazed by the amount of time and money that goes into something like this. This premiere was for the Universal film "Couples Retreat" (never heard of it).

Ah, the obligatory red carpet.

As I commented in previous post for the premiere of "Twilight Series: New Moon" http://www.experiencingla.com/2010/06/twilight-zone-los-angeles-premiere.html, I wonder, do the folks at Universal re-use this carpet? The cynical side of me thinks it, unfortunately, just ends up in a landfill somewhere . . .

This is looking north on Broxton, with UCLA located a block away at the end of the street. My office = half a block from here. Posters for "Couples Retreat" are along the right of the red carpet runway.

Los Angeles can often feel like two worlds. Just a few feet away from all this . . .

. . . one of the local transients was passed out. I'd see this same guy earlier in the day sitting on the sidewalk, pan handling.

Now he was passed out in the alley way twenty feet from all the activity on Broxton (notice the crowd control barriers in the street a few feet away). My concern was that this guy literally might get run over by a car.

I called the non-emergency police number, explaining that a transient was passed out in the alley. The dispatch operator asked if I'd try and wake the guy up. Umm . . . sorry, but I wasn't going to do that. I've had a homeless guy in Santa Monica - on two different occasions - threaten to kill me. Wasn't funny. My family and I were eating in a fast food restaurant and some homeless guy walked in and threatened to kill me "unless I stop bothering him." Kinda freaked me and everyone else in the restaurant out. Really freaked out my kids. Then it happened again a few months later. Same guy - different fast food restaurant.

Sorry, I told the dispatch operator, I wasn't about to try and wake this guy in the alley.

I went back and place a orange cone next to him - just so that anyone driving in the alley would at least see him.

The local police officer showed up a few minutes later and immediately knew who our friend in the alley was, calling him by his first name.

A minute or two later the a fire truck showed up.

You can see the red carpet of the premiere to the right of the photo above. A single police officer probably would have been fine. The fire truck was more than necessary.

And now here's the EMS - Emergency Medical Services.

One police officer, three fire fighters, two EMTs . . .

While I'm glad I called, I kept thing: what's this costing?

Maybe a better question is, what emergencies are these guys not able to respond to elsewhere in the city because they're here?

A minute or two later the they wake our friend up. He's been drinking (a lot) and just passed out. Unfortunately, there's no law against public intoxication. Or, if there is, it's not being enforced.

He got up, walked across the street, and passed out on the edge of the UCLA campus.

A couple weeks ago the Los Angeles Times ran a four part series http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-homeless-project50,0,4610742.htmlstory on Project 50 - a plan to get, or try to get, the fifty most ask-risk homeless people off the streets of downtown's Skid Row. The article reminded me a lot of my (very brief) experience last Fall.

While Westwood Village is worlds away from Skid Row and our friend in the alley is no where near the fifty most at-risk people on L.A.'s streets, our city's public policy related towards the homeless really seems, well, broken.

In the case of our friend, the core issue isn't homelessness, it's substance abuse.

And that, unfortunately, is a much more challenging problem than just four walls and a bed.

I'm curious what cities in the U.S. have developed the most effective program for ending homelessness. Not sweeping it under the rug, not dumping alcoholics, druggies, or the mentally ill off in other places, but actually seeing peoples' lives changed.

And in those cities, I'm really curious what role faith-based programs play.

© 2010 www.experiencingla.com

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