Lighting Up the Night - in Los Angeles

Three years ago, just a month after moving here, we took our kids trick-or-treating.

I'm not sure if it's living in a big city, or trick-or-treating in neighborhoods with too much money, or just the Hollywood influence ... but it was unlike anything we had experienced.

Friends of ours recommended a "popular" neighborhood here on the westside. That was an understatement: there were so many kids and parents at times it was hard to walk on the sidewalks - it was that crowded.

Is it just being a dad of young kids, or are costumes creepier than in the past?

Some houses looked like professionally designed sets to horror films. Gone are the days of a couple of pumpkins and "Casper the Friendly Ghost" in the front yard. Neighbors seem to compete with each other on who has most terrifying and realistic house. Does anyone else have a problem with young children being shown images of death, torture and the occult? What's really scary is when we as adults start to get used to this - and it no longer shocks.

I mentioned this to a friend in our community, who shared how busy his street is as well. I asked him if he'd like to work together to create an "alternative" Halloween celebration. Thus was born "Light Up the Night." I'm sure the name isn't original with us - but we like it.

A brightly lit home, upbeat music, a large puppet theater in the driveway, helium balloons, and lots of candy are all part of the mix. We were OK with the candy - it's the celebration of everything "dark" that we tried to avoid. Here are a few photos:


No, this is not Disneyland - just the driveway of our friends' home. At the busiest time there were sixty kids and parents hanging out.


Another view when things mellowed out a bit. Helium balloons that said "Light Up the Night" were a huge hit - we ran out.


Friends from our church help make this happen. A couple of guys involved in the entertainment industry set up live video feed this year - so kids could "be on TV." Fun.

It's also something kids from our church can be involved with: handing out balloons, candy, or running the puppet theater.

I heard some adults refer to it as "that Christian house." That's great.


This year we created 4x6 cards with "Light Up the Night" in multiple languages. The back had a bit of information about the event and our church's website.


photo from last year

Last year a dad told me "people all over are talking about this house. People in Santa Monica, Brentwood ... I'm here because a friend at work said 'you gotta see this one house ....'" We can't verify if that's true, but every year we get great feedback from appreciative parents, the majority whom have no religious background.


another photo from last year

Before moving to Los Angeles, we lived in Tempe, Arizona. Our church there had a HUGE Halloween event at the church, attracting thousands of people every year. The year we moved the church canceled the event. Why? Because it was attracting thousands of Christians. The church challenged small groups to work to impact individual communities and neighborhoods. Something, I like to think, like "Light Up the Night."

We had a blast hosting this event. And it's not just an "L.A. thing" - let us know, we'd be glad to pass along thoughts and ideas if this is something you'd like to try in your community.

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21)

Not "If" But "When" - the 30th anniversary of the Mandeville Canyon Fire

photo credit: www.yourerdoc.com

On this day thirty years ago, October 23 1978, a fire broke out at 9:41am near Mulholland Drive and the 405 Frwy in the Santa Monica Mountains. Stoked by Santa Ana winds and very hot, dry conditions within a few minutes a large brush fire started moving westward.

photo credit: Julie Keese 

This is one of the very few color photos I was able to find of the fire. Looks like it was taken from the roof of what's now the CVS pharmacy in the Palisades. The old RTD bus is at the intersection of Sunset Blvd and Swathmore.


photo credit: Palisades Post


Via de la Paz, looking north from the business district. 

I was a student at Palisades High School. I pulled this and the next few photos from our school yearbook.











Thirty homes were destroyed in Brentwood and Pacific Palisades - it could have easily been over 200. 

Here's another color photo. It was actually a postcard, and was for sale for several years afterwards.

The back of the postcard reads: "Santa Monica Mountais on fire-Fall 1978. The fire is nearly 10 miles wide in this photo taken from Venice, Calif. Photo and copyright by Jeffrey Stanton." 

photo credit: Karl Edward Dean

Every year Southern California deals with brush fires. In fact, as I write this yet another fire broke out this morning (below) next to the 405 Freeway - very close to where the Mandeville Fire began 30 years earlier. Fortunately, this morning's fire was put out quickly.
photo credit: www.latimes.com

My family's home on Lachman Lane came very close to being destroyed in the Mandeville fire. A few things I remember:

1) the speed of the fire. When I got home from High School, I literally thought the fire might be near our home sometime in the next day or two. It was more like 4 hours.

2) the size of the fire. There is something terrifying about a 50-60 wall of flames several miles wide coming towards you. Trying to defend your home with a garden hose felt like a joke.

3) the smell of the fire. I get an awful feeling everytime I smell a fire - bad memories of October 1978.

4)the SOUND of the fire. This was perhaps the scariest thing of all. I still remember the low, loud roar. It was surreal.

Our family was very fortunate that the winds shifted just was the fire approached our street. Other families were not so lucky - loosing not only their homes, but everything inside.


photo credit: www.latimes.com

The Marek fire (above) in the San Fernando Valley last month was a reminder that brush fires in Southern California are not a question of "if" ... but "when."

As a Christian, I'm reminded that brush fires involve issues of environmental stewardship, protection of lives, protection of property, understanding the specific climate (Mediterranean) and topography (mountainous) of Southern California. Brush fires are NOT forest fires. Remember Smokey the Bear? Not the same here. In Southern California several of the native plants are designed to burn (there's that pesky "design" again).



One of my professors at UCLA stated that a fire every ten years is significantly less dangerous, less intense than one every fifty years. I have to now agree that it would make sense to have controlled burns of uninhabited mountainous areas every 10-12 years - but it will never happen (political suicide).

A brush fire is a sobering reminder how brief our stint on earth really is. "Teach us to number our days aright so we may gain a heart of wisdom." Psalm 90:12

© 2008 www.experiencingla.com

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A Night At the Pantages

Last weekend my son and I had an opportunity to see a live show at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood. His cousins (my niece and nephew) had seen the Broadway musical "Wicked" earlier in the year, so - of course - he really wanted to go. We decided to make it an early birthday present. Since my wife had already seen it earlier in the year, I got to go.


Traffic into Hollywood can be pretty wicked during the week, so we went on a Saturday - smart decision.


The Sunset Strip (in West Hollywood) isn't known for family friendly billboards. This 60 foot ad on the side of a building for "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" in West Hollywood was an exception.


Hollywood is technically part of the City of Los Angeles. We had dinner at Subway at Sunset & La Brea. Not too exciting, but my son was looking for familiarity.


Hollywood Blvd. was full of life and activity around the Kodak Theater (the El Capitan, the Disney flagship theater, is across the street).


The mile between Hollywood & Highland (Kodak Theater) and the Pantages is - unfortunately - pretty gritty. There's a ton of large scale urban renewal going on ... but much of the area around the theater still needs an "extreme makeover."


The Pantages was built in 1930, and has recently been restored to it's original grandeur. The place was packed.


So what about "Wicked"? Overall, I enjoyed it. It probably would have helped if I had read an on-line description of the story ahead of time, as it was actually a lot more complex than I expected. I had a hard time sticking with the plot and themes, especially as some of the important dialogue is sung - it is, after all, a musical.


I cheated on these last two pictures and pulled them off the internet. Our seats were literally in the very last row. Great sound, but hard to see the subtle nuances of the actors on stage (and besides, the Pantages has a "no photography" policy). I pulled the next two pics off the internet. 

image credit: http://www.thepensivecitadel.com

The show has very catchy tunes, and deals with some serious questions of good and evil, who is really "good" ... and who is really "wicked." The first half is fairly lighthearted. After the intermission, it's more serious, more of a drama.

image credit: http://riddlelifearizona.erau.edu

The show runs fairly late - to about 11pm. We actually left about 20 minutes before the end of the show ... way too late for a 9 year old. Yet another one of those parental "what was I thinking?" moments. In hindsight, we should have probably caught a matinee show.


So while I'm not qualified to give a review or summary of the show, I do appreciate this excellent review from Dr. Brian Howell, anthropology professor at Wheaton College. If you're planning on seeing "Wicked" - or have already seen it - I recommend reading Professor Howell's review.


Watching a Broadway show (or a movie) from a Christian perspective, a Christian world-view, doesn't take an advanced degree in anthropology. But it does involve thinking through what's being communicated. And for Christians anywhere, hasn't God called us to love him with all our "heart, soul, mind, and strength"?


© 2008 www.experiencingla.com



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Junk Mail

Not everything we get in the mail is junk. Last month we received a nice mailer from the good people at Lamborghini Calabasas:



We're currently not in the market for a car, which is really too bad, because it's only $2,398 a month. Hmmm, that's about double an average American's monthly mortgage, but everybody says that things cost a bit more in L.A.



The reverse side explains in detail what the "affordable" payments are.

Are you sitting down?

$50,000 down.
$2,398 per month for 35 months
with a final balloon payment of (drum roll) $164,000.

Total cost: $300,000.

My wife and I laughed - is there seriously a market for a $300,000 car? We showed a few friends ... sort of the "can you believe this?"

Last week I spotted the exact same car driving up Sunset Blvd. Hey look, the $300K car!



Which was followed by another ...



and another ...



and another.


Handling must not be very good ... as you can see, the guy in the silver car had a hard time staying in lane.





Reminded me a bit of P.D. Eastman's Go, Dog, Go! Remember that children's book? Maybe they're on their way to a "big dog party" in a tree somewhere.





At the light (Sunset Blvd. & Palisades Drive in Pacific Palisades) there were these four, plus another three up ahead. Huh, that's $2 million and some change.

Obviously, even in L.A., you don't see seven Lamborghinis drive by at once very often (or ever).

As they drove by I had to wonder what Jesus meant in Luke 12 when he said: "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

Actually, I don't really wonder. Jesus referred to anyone focusing on the "good life" as a fool.

There are a lot of fools in Los Angeles.

While I'm currently not in the market for a car (my Honda Accord set me back $5 grand - and it's running fine) is how I'm investing my time, my talents, and my resources .... wise ... or foolish?

"Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?'Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God." Proverbs 30:7-9

A Trip to Wal-Mart

Normally, a trip to Wal-Mart wouldn't justify a blog entry, but the Wal-Mart closest to our house is definitely unique.



As the only Wal-Mart in Los Angeles, it's actually located in a former department store on Crenshaw Blvd. The parking lot is - of course - a parking structure. You can waste 20 minutes trying to find a spot near the entrance, or just park at the periphery and walk five minutes - your choice.



How does a three story Wal-Mart work? Our kids liked the escalators especially designed for shopping carts -





and the HUGE elevators - you could drive a small car into these babies!



Otherwise, it was like any other Wal-Mart: a focus low prices and (on a Saturday afternoon at 2pm) crowded. They had plenty of empolyees out on the floor, so that was nice. It was actually smaller than I expected in terms of total floor space - those "Super Wal-Marts" have significantly more selection.



A lot has been written about the economic effect of Wal-Mart on the U.S. economy and individual communities. This is actually the only Wal-Mart with a "Los Angeles" address. The three other Wal-marts in the City of Los Angeles are located in the San Fernando Valley: Panorama City, West Hills, and Porter Ranch.

Living in Los Angeles is certainly different. As a Christian, I've found it an exciting and often challenging place to live and work.

The New Testament uses words like "stranger" or "alien" to describe our brief stint on earth (I Peter 2:11). Whether the city, the country, or someplace in between, there's a danger in becoming too comfortable in any place we're living.



Amazing how even a trip down to Wal-mart can remind me of that.

"The Sound of Music" sing-a-long at the Hollywood Bowl

Last night we joined two other home school families for an evening at the Hollywood Bowl.



The bowl offers a huge variety of musical performances throughout the season. Having no idea what to expect, we thought we'd try "The Sound of Music" sing-a-long.



Three tips: one, bring something for a picnic before the show. We spread out a blanket in one of the grassy areas outside the bowl and enjoyed our "Subway" sandwiches, picked up along the way.



Two, if at all possible, try and avoid the "stacked" parking lots next to the Bowl. They're not cheap, and you can't leave until the show is over. I always prefer parking far away and literally walking in.

Three, bring a sweater or jacket, and a blanket. Even on a very warm September day, it got surprisingly cool into the evening.


"The Sound of Music" sing-a-long is just that: you watch the movie with 18,000 of your closest friends and sing along to the music. Think a G rated (or PG) version of the Rocky Horror Picture Show.




We read that there was a "costume parade" before hand. We had no idea what this would be, but my son wanted to participate at the last minute, using what we had at home. In that we didn't have any lederhosen or other Austrian costumes laying around, he went as a goat herder. You know, from the marionette scene. His costume looked more like a shepherd, maybe from a millennium or two earlier.



It was less of a parade, more of a costume contest. My son was in the very front of the line, which was fun. Each participant (there were at least 200) individually went on stage, said their name, and who they were. The host asked my son "and who are you?" He said "I'm the shepherd boy" - she responded, "that's perfect, you can be in the movie and in the nativity scene ..." 60 years from now he'll be able to tell his grandkids "Hollywood Bowl? No big deal, I was on stage there back in the day."



Some of the costumes were pretty amazing: a group behind us came as the "boat scene" (from the movie). Others were even more creative: one couple were dressed in huge numbers "16 going on 17". The group that won the contest (they actually had prizes) dressed up as musical notes: "do, re, mi, fa, so ...." The costume contest went for a whole hour.

The movie finally started when it got dark around 7:30pm. We opted for the "cheap seats" (or "cheaper seats") near the top. The sound was great, but the screen was small.

It was a unique experience watching a movie with 18,000 other people. The crowd was rowdier than I expected - there's a lot of alcohol consumed at the Hollywood Bowl, even on evenings that attract a lot of families.

In additional to singing along to every song, the crowd booed the Nazis, hissed at the Baroness, cheered along with Maria and the children, laughed at anything that was remotely funny, and waved their illuminated cell phones during "Edelweiss." I don't want to be a grouch - but I was pretty annoyed with the handful of people who brought in red laser pointers (designed for highlighting a power point demonstration) to "boo" the bad guys during the film (the Baroness, the Nazis and Nazi sympathizers).

It was fun to go once, but if you're looking for a traditional Hollywood Bowl concert experience, "The Sound of Music" sing-a-long is probably not for you.

"The Sound of Music" was released in 1965 (and based on the 1959 Broadway musical) and won 5 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It remains one of the most popular films of all times. While not what I would call a "Christian film" in the strictest sense, it contains strong themes of good and evil, faith, love, courage, family. I'm reminded of St. Paul's admonition to "hate what is evil, cling to what is good" (Romans 12:9).

Watching the film in the Hollywood Bowl, with a clear view of the Hollywood sign behind it, I couldn't help but wonder when the next time a G (or PG) rated film will win an Academy Award for Best Picture. My hope is sooner rather than later.

Here's a link to the Hollywood Bowl website.

© 2008 www.experiencingla.com

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