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dudeshusband · 4 years ago

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Title: There’s A Great, Big Beautiful Tomorrow: Part Two

Ship: Mike x Robert Chase

Words: 1988 (yeah, sorry)

Description: Mike and Chase explore Disneyland together.

Warnings: none

When Chase rented a car to take them from Los Angeles to Anaheim after they landed, as Mike didn’t drive, it became more and more apparent how out of his element he was. If this were Mike’s first time in the city rather than more than their 15th, they would be hopeless. Mike was the navigator, a bit of a tour guide.

They pointed out the Citadel outlets when they passed them and talked about how much cooler they looked at night. Then they talked about the Travelodge that their family most often stayed at because it was fairly cheap and close to the park. Then, once they got to the hotel, they talked about Goofy’s Kitchen and the character dinner they had there once.

Mike had talked so much, they worried they had talked their boyfriend’s ear off. He didn’t seem all too annoyed so they left it alone.

Mike got them checked in and then started talking about the places they could go for dinner, “Well, there’s this Denny’s on Harbor that I once saw a gentleman selling those flying toy things at. Or we could go to the Bob’s Big Boy across the street from the old Walt Disney Studios but we’d have to backtrack to Burbank. Or there’s a lot of places in Downtown Disney. Ohh, we should go to Tortilla Jo’s! They make the best guacamole, table side.”

“Sure,” Chase said, with a whole lot less enthusiasm than Mike but still smiling.

Tortilla Jo’s always had quite a bit of a wait but that was the true Disney experience, from one wait to another. Besides, Mike had years of conversation material. They told Chase about the tiny toilets in the restrooms and the time their mom took a photo of one because it was so funny to her.

Then, they finally got into the restaurant and ordered.

Mike got what they normally couldn’t get at most Mexican restaurants, a burrito that was actually intended to be vegetarian, and Chase ordered pork carnitas. He also got himself a margarita, and since Mike didn’t drink, they got horchata.

Chase was actually kind of impressed by the table side guacamole.

They talked about everything and anything until the bill came. Then there was something of a debate.

“You’ve paid for this whole thing so far,” Chase said. “Let me get this one.”

“No, absolutely not,” Mike said. “This trip is my treat and I’m paying for anything and everything. I saved up to be able to.”

“At least let me pay for the margarita.”

“Nope, I got that covered too,” Mike said, sliding their credit card into the black booklet that also contained the receipt. The waitress took the booklet to the register. “You’re used to people buying you whatever you want out of guilt. Let me buy you whatever you want because I love you.”

Chase didn’t say anything, even when the waitress returned Mike’s card.

The next morning, Chase was surprised to see Mike up earlier than him, trying to wake him up.

“Come on!” they shouted enthusiastically. “We have to get to the opening thing. I don’t really remember what they call it but that’s not the point. I made reservations for Carnation so we’ll eat there when we get into the park.”

Chase rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, “Are you high?”

Mike laughed, “Yeah! High on life! Let’s go!” Mike gave his arm a tug and nearly bought him to the floor.

“Whoa, okay, I’m awake,” he said quickly. “Jesus Christ.”

“Get dressed,” Mike prompted. “I love your bedhead” — they tousled his hair with their hand — “But I’m not going anywhere with you like this.”

“Give me a second.”

He blinked and noticed that Mike was already dressed. “When did you wake up?”

“About a half an hour ago,” Mike said. “At 6.”

Chase looked a bit shocked.

“What? I get up earlier for work every morning.”

“Reluctantly. Like an angry bear.”

Mike whacked him with one of the hotel’s pillows. “Shut up and get dressed.”

He did so and joined Mike about 25 minutes later.

Mike tossed him his muffin.

“Banana nut, hmm,” he said when he caught it.

“We should probably get going,” Mike said.

“Don’t we have 35 minutes?” Chase asked.

“Yeah but you should see the crowd.”

Chase ate his muffin on the walk to the park.

Just as Mike suspected, the crowd in front of the front gate of Disneyland was large and more people were coming up behind them.

“Damn,” Chase said. “I guess you were right.”

“Don’t doubt me on my Disney knowledge, Robert,” Mike said, trying not to laugh. Chase was trying to fight a laugh too.

After a while, music started playing and the Disney characters started coming out. It was a cute little performance but Mike could tell that the look of wonder on the kids’ faces all around him was the thing that ended up making him smile.

“My mom used to say that Walt Disney wanted somewhere he could take his kids where he could have a good time too,” Mike said, “And out of that came Disneyland. Whatever all that has become, I’m glad that it's still something magical for kids.”

“Kids whose families can afford it,” Chase said.

“Yeah,” Mike said, a bit sadly.

The gates opened and people began filing in.

Mike handed the person working at the turnstyle the tickets they’d printed off the internet and then the person took their picture and handed them a small paper card. The same went for Chase.

“Whatever you do,” Mike told Chase. “Don’t lose that.”

Chase nodded and looked at the mini garden that had been grown to resemble the head of Mickey Mouse.

“Come on,” Mike said, dragging him to the right, “Main Street’s this way.”

“Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy,” Chase read off the sign of the mini tunnel that led to Main Street. “Huh.”

“First we have to get the hats with the Mickey Mouse ears,” Mike said.

“We do?”

“Of course!” Mike said. “You’ll look cute.”

“I’ll look like an idiot,” Chase said.

“A cute idiot.”

They walked past several people and the sign for the double decker bus to one of the many places one could buy a Mickey Mouse hat.

“Nothing like the classic,” Mike said as they bought two black Mickey Mouse hats with an image of Mickey Mouse stitched to the front.

“Do I have to put the string under my chin?” he asked.

“Only if you want to wear it on the rides,” Mike said. “Which I wouldn’t recommend.”

They each put the hats on their heads.

“See, I told you you’d look cute,” Mike said, giving him a kiss to the cheek.

“Hey, there are kids here,” Chase joked.

Mike rolled their eyes. “Worse happens in The Little Mermaid.”

“Come on,” Mike said. “We have breakfast reservations.”

Mike showed Chase the 8th wonder of the world, the Mickey Mouse waffle and talked about how Main Street is modeled after the United States at the turn of the century 1900.

Then, it was off to find their first ride.

“Usually,” Mike said. “My family and I would go to Tomorrowland first and ride the Buzz Lightyear ride but we can go anywhere.”

“The castle is the way to Fantasyland, yeah?” Chase asked.

“Yep,” Mike said. “It’s Sleeping Beauty’s castle.”

Mike and Chase made their way down Main Street and through the castle into Fantasyland.

“So we have one where you ride in a Dumbo, the Carousel, the Peter Pan ride, the Mad Tea Party, a personal favorite; Snow White’s Scary Adventure, and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, and lots of other stuff.”

“Mr. Toad from The Wind in the Willows?”

“Yeah,” Mike said. “Also the Disney adaptation The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.”

“Let’s go on that one.”

Mike shook their head, “No, no, not that one. It’s really boring and it’s really hot in the Hell part.”

Chase laughed. “It’s hot in the Hell part?”

“Yeah,” Mike said. “It’s a really silly ride. Not very fun.”

Chase looked at their partner and got an amused look on his face. “You’re scared of that ride, aren’t you?”

“What, no!” Mike lied. “I’m an adult. I’m not scared of the toad ride.”

“Come on,” Chase said. “I’ll be there to protect you.”

“Stop it!” Mike said all the way there. “Stop milking this!”

When they got off the ride, Chase said, “You’re right. It is really hot in the Hell part.”

Mike, feigning grumpiness, said, “I told you.”

The pair rode several more rides, one of which was the Matterhorn, where they laughed at the announcer’s awful Swiss accent.

Then they left the park for dinner.

“What’s so special about Rainforest?” Chase asked on their way through Downtown Disney. “There were a lot of good places inside the park.”

“Don’t they have one in Atlantic City?” Mike asked.

“Yeah but I’ve never seen it.”

“Then you’ll see.”

Outside the restaurant were several torches with fire in them. Then inside was the register, which was a large elephant, and a gift shop. Beyond the gift shop was a large fish tank.

After checking in at the elephant, Mike told Chase what they knew about Rainforest, “It’s two floors with indoor and outdoor seating. It’s got a really cool ambience and I like the food.”

“You should be their spokesperson,” Chase said.

“We should split a Volcano!” Mike said excitedly.

“Split a what?”

“You’ll see.”

They were called back to the elephant to be seated a little beyond the fish tanks, which were at the sides and overhead of a doorway.

Chase looked around at the audio animatronics all around them. “I see why they call it Rainforest.”

They ordered and ate. Halfway through, the room began to simulate a thunderstorm and Chase was briefly scared out of his skin.

“I wasn’t expecting that,” he said. “For fuck’s sake.”

“No swearing,” Mike said. “This is a family establishment.”

“It’s hard not to when a thunderstorm just happens while you’re eating.”

“It’s cool though, right?”

“Yeah, a little.”

Chase was equally surprised when some waiters bellowed the word "volcano" while carrying a tower of brownies and ice cream with a stick with a poof shaped like a firework sticking out of the top.

"That thing is massive," Chase exclaimed. "How are we going to eat all that?"

"You'd be amazed by what I can eat," Mike joked.

They waited for Chase's look of shock before adding, "Eat the ice cream first, we can get a to-go box for the brownies. I've never eaten this with less than 3 people present."

They returned to the park and rode as much as they could before the ten o’clock fireworks.

“Are my feet supposed to be killing me?” Chase asked on the way to the castle.

“Yep,” Mike said. “You just gotta keep going.”

They were in the middle of a large crowd.

“This is where being tall has its conveniences,” Mike said. “Except when some jerk puts their kid on their shoulders and won’t let you step in front of them.”

“Then I’ll just put you on my shoulders,” Chase joked.

“And one of us will end up breaking something or someone,” Mike said.

Just then, the lights dimmed and the announcer could be heard saying the fireworks show was about to begin.

Then came the music and accompanying fireworks.

Mike put their arm around Chase much to his surprise and it stayed there until nearly the final firework.

The grand finale boomed in the sky. Mike pulled Chase closer to themselves and pressed a passionate kiss to his lips.

An old woman could be heard awwing and a kid ewing but all Mike could sense was the sound of Chase’s beating heart and the blush that had crept up his face.

_____________________________________________________________

tag list: @cosmicselfship @pucksfictionallovelife @romancologist @holy-heck-i-love-my-fo @cozyships

#⌜ ✒ ⌟#self shipping community #self ship community #⌜ self ship ⌟#self insert x canon #the banter is immaculate if i say so myself #and i do #this is the second and final part to this #♡ how good-looking am i? — ⌜ robert chase ⌟

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floooopafloooopa · 4 years ago

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Rambling about Walt Disney and Thneedville

Some days ago on TV, a 2-part (totalling to four hours) documentary on Walt Disney, directed by Sarah Colt, was airing, showing the man at both bad and good. The information below is based on that.

Some parts of Walt Disney reminded me of the Onceler. They both start as working class people (though Walt seems to be a city boy, while the Onceler is a rural boy) and become rich people, they come across as imaginative and driven people whose success originated from that, but at the same time, they both love capitalism and that's how they continued their success, and they both built very large locations.

The main thing that captured my interest, was right at the end of Walt's life, was his plan for a city called EPCOT, Experimental Prototype City/Community of Tomorrow, but he died before it could come to fruition as he wanted. It reminded me of Thneedville. But before we get to that, i'm gonna pull an old-man-onceler on you, and start the story sometime before Walt started planning EPCOT, because I have some thoughts about the preceding events and years as well.

I'm going to start at the point in life, where he was building his new bigger studio in Burbank. It wasn't just a studio, (while Walt Disney wanted apartments, so the employees don't have to leave the workplace, they weren't built) it was this whole insular community with its own restuarants, theatres, gyms, gas stations, landscaped areas and soda fountains, and stuff. Walt wanted to make this "perfect" area where all the people here were united for a common mission (of movie making). The location was rather clean and organised. I find the Burbank studio community interesting because it’s one of those communities centered on a company/industry. I wonder what kind of towns greenville and thneedville were. did the towns and community become industry towns/absorbed into the thneed company? How much influence did the Onceler have over the day-to-day lives of the surrounding community?

The next part I want to talk about is the strikes at Burbank (because Disney was being a greedy dirtybag). The company heiarachy was apparently really rigid and obvious, with some people outearning others by an incredibly unfair margin, and having access to the more nicer and exclusive areas of Burbank, like restaurants and steam rooms, and having nicer and more comfortable furniture. The lower ranking people couldn't afford to use Burbank's restuarants, because they only made $12 a week, and other people made $300 a week. (Random trivia: If you want more examples of douchiness, top staff, like writers and animators, were all male, and bottom hierarchy staff, like colorists, were mainly female, making a massive wage gap. And if a top-staffer, like key animator Don Lusk, decided to help out the low rankers, by doing inbetweens and cleanup duty, his nice furniture for his workspace got taken away and replaced with low-rank furniture.)

The most extreme inequality is that Walt Disney would earn over a 100 times more than a woman working in ink and paint. Art Babbitt (one of the Disney empoyees) had a story about a woman whose husband was gone, who kept skipping lunches and fainted once, because her salary sucked, and she wanted to keep the money for her children.

And of course people striked, even the best animators, like Art Babbitt. Because the situation was so unfair. (Babbit got fired for union activities).

Walt's reaction to the strikes? Tonedeaf. Labelled the strikers as communists trying to ruin stuff. He was shocked and oblivious and felt betrayed, because he thought they were all in this together. Why would people want a union when he was being kind and giving the people everything they wanted, sort of attitude that he had. So it was time to blame the communists.

The Onceler talks about the lawyers denying. They're probably denying the environmental stuff, but I wonder how the Onceler treats his employees. Does he share the same paternalistic attitude of, "Look, I'm the one giving people all these great things, they should be grateful and loving to me"? Or does he approach his image a different way, like maybe a rockstar with his fans, and he just wins everyone over with ease by appearing charming and cool. Does the Onceler share the same obvliviousness, but to the degradation of his surroundings, or does the Onceler know about the surrounding degradation and just pushed on with business anyway? Does 2012 Onceler even have that many employees like the 1972 version has, or is the 2012 Onceler mostly a machine whiz, with a few employees here and there? And the way that Disney was pissed because he believed that the Screen Cartoonists Guild was trying to organise and run Disney's company, reminded me about how the Onceler was pissed when the Lorax was trying to criticise the Onceler about how the Onceler ran his company. Neither took criticism that well.

I think the strikes are also interesting, because it's also the moment Walt Disney's optimism mildly dies, and leads onto the behaviour seen later (being more distant from making animated films, the building of even more areas). He didn't see his studio as family anymore, and his social life kind of turned a little more inwards, more towards his own family, and became more distrustful of people. Trivia: Walt did not handle the strikes, and resisted them. Roy Disney, his brother, eventually gave the strikers nearly everything they wanted while Walt was away on holiday.

Another interesting thing was how the documentary talked about the "big five" Disney films, which were the first five, Snow White, Pinnochio, Fantasia, Bambi and Dumbo, and how there was no Disney Style back then, because each of those big five films were so different from each other because Disney used to be more experimental. But after the strikes, WW2, and box-office-flops, the experimentalness in the animated films was dialled down somewhat (e.g. Cinderella, while a box-office success and a beautiful looking film, wouldn't exactly be considered standout in terms of advancements/differences in style or tech from the older disney films). I find this interesting because despite the thneed being very experimental at the start, later in the Once-ler's life, we don't see (onscreen) the Onceler making many more experimental inventions for everyone else to enjoy. (The super-axe hacker is an invention, but not an everyday sort of thing)

Going a few years ahead, after WW2 and after Disney had some more successes and bungles (e.g. blaming communists for bad critical reception for Song of the South, which was racist for its cheery depiction of plantation life/slavery for black people) with his films, and union busting activities, we come to Walt's new hobby of making model trains, and then making small (ridable) railways. Apparently he was more focussed on these trains, than the Cinderella film. Something Walt liked about making model trains and railways was how much he could control them. Companies and people are hard to control, but with models and stuff, you can control every detail, it's all happy and safe.

This would eventually lead to his next new big experiment, not in films, but in amusement parks. His enjoyment of trains, and a want of a clean fun place to take his daughters to (amusement parks/carnivals back then were sometimes dirty places, and filled with questionable people. Sometimes there was stuff like freak-shows as "entertainment", which displayed disabled people as something to gawk as, and half-naked-lady-dancers, and you can think about the audience for that. There's probably other rides and stuff as well, but they’re not necessarily Walt’s ideal for a really clean place for his daughters), and the idea of putting people into the adventure instead of people merely watching adventures onscreen, biggered and biggered, and so he made the very successful Disneyland. A squeaky clean fun entertainment place for the family, an artificial world that could be controlled and manufactured down to the very last detail.

I wonder what lead the Once-ler into town-planning of Thneedville. I find Thneedville interesting, because outwardly, it also looks like it's a squeaky clean place for fun and amusement. Walt's attitudes to Disneyland stemmed from his love for films and storytelling and fun things and trains and control, I wonder what vision the Once-ler had for Thneedville, where it stemmed from. A vision of fun and peace? A vision of control? A vision of futurism and modernity? A vision of perfection? A place where he can be idolised and made eternal? Another interesting thing about Disneyland was how often foreign world leaders would visit it to get a sense of the US, as if the place was a cultural touchstone. Did the Onceler want Thneedville to be that sort of important place as well?

Also, a place made out of plastic (In Disneyland's tommorowland section). Remind you of anything?

"As you enter this experimental model home, perhaps you noticed the house itself is constructed entirely of plastics".

LORAX: We open in Thneedville, a city, they say, That was plastic and fake, and they liked it that way.

Some contemporary critics of Disneyland said that it was: "The whole world, the universe, and all man's striving for dominion over self and nature, had been reduced to a sickening blend of cheap formulas packaged to sell". "Life is bright-coloured, clean, safe, mediocre, inoffensive", which reminds me a lot of Thneedville. Capitalist, bright, and clean looking (outwardly). Another amusing quote is that someone once said Walt Disney was popular enough to become president, but then Walt said "Why would I want to become President of the United States? I'm the king of Disneyland." Sometimes I wonder if the Once-ler's ambitions and biggering had a stopping point for him, or if he was the type of person that could eventually go, "Yeah, what if I did become the president of USA?"

While Thneedville resembles Disneyland in some aspects, Thneedville doesn't come across as an amusement park with multiple themes, with Disneyland having sections like Fantasy-land with a fantasy setting, Frontiere-land (which in Disneyland, showed a washed and sanitised version of U.S.America's history), among others. Thneedville seems all futuristic, more uniform. And then we finally come to EPCOT. Bigger than Burbank studios, bigger than a Disneyland trip you stay in for a few hours, Experimental Prototype City/Community Of Tomorrow, as it was originally envisioned, was a way of life. Somewhere you lived. And Walt Disney, at around 1965, had bought and owned 27,000 acres of land in Florida in preparation for the Disney Florida Project. Disney didn't just want to be making pop-culture that'd be popular one day, and not improtant some years down the line. He wanted to make a city that would be a model for the United States.

EPCOT'S features would have included:

- A circular layout, based on a wheel. (The “spokes” of the city “wheel” would be where much of the transportation can occur).

I don't have any overhead concept art of the exact layout of Thneedville but the walls do make it look like a circle-shaped community. Someone also had a screenshot that displays Thneedville's supposed layout here:

https://someone-cared.tumblr.com/post/28929067166/travelingmadness-thneedville-map

And it is circular.

- Different sections of the circle being designated for different things. As the documentary says, "A high density town centre with hotels and corporate offices, a greenbelt for recreation and entertainment, and a low density area with schools and parks and playgrounds. And it would be all knit together by the most efficient and convenient public transportation". (While watching the video about EPCOT in a link mentioned later, the schools seem to be in the green belt actually) .

Though, Thneedville looks a lot wonkier with it's Seussian roads, and most people seem to have personal transport and it's a lot more car-based. I wonder what kind of layout it has. Where Ted lives, it looks exactly like a residential section. Is Thneedville neatly sectioned like EPCOT?

- Many companies doing their research and development in EPCOT all together, right next to each other. EPCOT promised employment for all 25,000 people it was supposed to house. I wonder what other companies in the area the Once-ler was in contact with. The O’hare business seems to be one of them.

- A section of EPCOT would be enclosed in a climate controlled environment, so people would always have ideal weather conditions. Thneedville has weather control. (While the air isn't as clean), it sure as heck doesn't look as smoggy as it does on the outside. People can lie on the beach and surf in snow, in the very same location, within the same hour.

- Convenient and corporate controlled. EPCOT, being a Disney thing, is probably going to have Disney's influence heavily, and Disney also wanted other corporations and industries to move into EPCOT to help out the city. Thneedville, is named after an invention/company, and is currently under O'hare's rule. In the opening song, people call it got-all-that-we-needville, satisfaction-guaranteed-ville, destined-to-succeed-ville, we-are-all-agreed-ville. With the way EPCOT and maybe Thneedville, is laid out, where everyone has access to the business center, employment, schools, parks, and public transport, unlike Burbank, EPCOT seems to be a place where everything is easy for everyone to access. If Thneedville is anything like EPCOT, it's no wonder why people love it.

Here is Walt's original 26 minute film that he broadcasted, explaining Disney World, EPCOT, and the entire Disney Florida project to all:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLCHg9mUBag

It aims to be modern, continuously updating, to show the rest of the world "American ingenuity". A living showcase.

Eventually Walt succumbed to illness, at around 65 years old. While in hospital, on some his last days alive, he was still looking ahead, explaining to Roy Disney about his vision of what EPCOT and Disney World would be like. I think the Florida project continued on, but in a different direction.

While the Once-ler didn't die, and it's possible the current Thneedville matched a lot of the Once-ler's vision, someone other than the Onceler possibly finishing the city after the Thneed-company collapse, and the influence of O'Hare being the dude that rules over Thneedville, could be noticeable enough to take it in a different direction. I wonder what Thneedville would be like if the Once-ler ruled over it continuously.

#lorax #onceler #thneedville

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jessethorn · 5 years ago

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Some Los Angeles Tips

People are always asking me what they should do when they visit LA. I am by no means the greatest LA expert on earth, but I’ve lived here more than a decade now, and I have some ideas for you. Note that I live in the far Northeast corner of LA, and really rarely travel to the western half of town. So if you are looking for advice on Beverly Hills stuff or Malibu stuff or whatever, I am not that helpful. Also this is very subjective and really non-comprehensive in general. Just some stuff I like!

In General

Rent a car if you drive, but don't be afraid to take the bus or subway. There are some very long distances to traverse, and not everything is convenient to transit, but the transit is reasonably comfortable and efficient for a lot of purposes (going downtown, for example), particularly when combined with some judicious ride-sharing. There's plenty of parking everywhere, despite what Angelenos would have you think. Don't try to do too many things in one day, or cross town on the 10, 101 or 405 at anything even resembling rush hour (ie between like seven and ten thirty or three and seven on weekdays). Stick to one area for the day, maybe two.

The Museum of Jurassic Technology This is the best thing in Los Angeles and one of the best things in the world. It is part museum, part art project. To explain it much further might ruin the experience of visiting it, but please take my word that it is one of the most amazing places in the world.

The Watts Towers As the name suggests, they're in Watts, a bit out of the way for some trips, but absolutely without a doubt worth the travel. They're an incredible artwork/building built in a backyard out of rebar, concrete, glass and tile by an illiterate Italian immigrant in the mid-20th century. Worth signing up for a tour, they are cheap (it's a city park) and not all that long. There's also a little gallery on the site. One of the great works of American outsider art and a deeply beloved city treasure.

Other, More Regular Museums LACMA is a world-class art museum. The collection is a bit scattered (and as of this writing a wing is closed for renovation and replacement), but it's really good. It's in Mid-City on the Miracle Mile, and surrounded by other museums. The Petersen Automotive Museum is pretty cool if you're into cars. La Brea Tar Pits are more park than museum, but the museum is fun in a kitschy way, if you're into prehistoric creatures. It's also a nice place to eat lunch. In Exposition Park are a few major museums - the Natural History Museum is pretty good, though not better than others in other major cities (the Field Museum or whatever). The science museum is OK but significantly outclassed by the competition (it's no Exploratorium), though it does have a real space shuttle, which is pretty sweet. The Annenberg Space for Photography does what it says on the label. A good mid-size museum of photographs, check what show is up. The Broad is a nice contemporary art museum in a beautiful building that's right near Walt Disney Concert Hall, also an incredible building. They have a second campus in Little Tokyo that's very nice but smaller.

Architectural Stuff The LA Conservancy runs affordable walking tours that take you into some of the most fascinating built environments in LA. The subject matter ranges from Art Deco in downtown to the modern skyscrapers of the 50s through 90s. They're mostly Saturdays, but a few also run on weekdays. Can't recommend them enough if you're up for a couple hours of walking. You can go inside the Bradbury Building and up into the upper floors! It's cool. (The Conservancy also runs screenings in the big movie palaces downtown, which are mostly otherwise closed to the public. Definitely recommend those.) A couple of other architectural highlights: the Hollyhock House is in Barnsdall Park in Los Feliz. It's a restored Frank Lloyd Wright estate willed to the city many years ago that as of relatively recently runs regular tours. Also in the park is the city art museum of LA, which sometimes has some cool shows. Cal Poly Pomona students run tours on Saturdays of the Neutra VDL studio and residences in Silver Lake, which can be combined with a nice walk around the lake and some middle-aged-hipster watching. The Gamble House in Pasadena is an absolutely breathtaking craftsman mansion with a lot of

Griffith Park Griffith Park is one of the largest urban parks in the United States. It has all kinds of stuff within it - the LA Zoo, the Griffith Observatory, some great hiking. It's a great place to spend some time. If you have little kids, they will love Travel Town, a train graveyard/museum that's inside the park (and free!). The zoo is good if you like zoos, though not incredibly great or anything. The Autry Museum of the American West is worth a visit if you're into that kind of thing.

The Grove I know that we talk about The Grove a lot on Jordan, Jesse, Go. Please do not waste your vacation time at the Grove. It's a mall. It's fine. This also applies to the Americana at Brand, which we sometimes talk about because we have talked about the Grove too much. Also a mall. A little nicer than some? I went there when I needed a new power cable for my Surface.

Dodger Stadium Look, I am a Giants fan and hate the Dodgers, but if you are a baseball fan, Dodger Stadium is a great place to watch a baseball game. Even I can admit that. Angel Stadium is about as generic as it gets, but if you go on a weekday you can take a train from Union Station in LA.

The Getty Center The Getty Center is a beautiful building on a breathtaking piece of real estate. It's pretty cool to visit, but be aware that most of the art is pretty early, so if you don't like busts or paintings of feasts and stuff from the bible, then it might not be your jam art-wise. And getting up there is a whole thing. That said: it really is a beautiful building and an incredible view, so you probably won't feel like it's a waste. And if you like busts, then get your ass over there.

Downtown Stuff I will again recommend the LA Conservancy's walking tours to get a flavor of downtown LA, which is very walkable and full of incredible stuff. The main library is a beautiful edifice, the history of which is detailed in Susan Orlean's The Library Book. Worth wandering around in. Grand Central Market is a great place to get a bite, though pretty bougie at this point. Right next to Grand Central Market is Angel's Flight, a block-long funicular that is a lot of fun and costs next to nothing. Besides this, there are still functional specialized commercial districts in downtown LA. The flower district is particularly fun - the big flower market opens early for wholesale sales but is open to the public and there are tons of stores selling silk and artificial flowers which are very fun to wander through. There are also areas with stores specializing in selling imported toys, store fixtures (a favorite of mine), jewelry and fabric. Most of the fabric is kinda garbage honestly but there is a good tailor supply store called B. Black and Sons and a great hat making store (worth visiting even if you don't make hats) called California Millinery Supply. FIDM also has a thrift store with cheap fabric leftover from LA-based factories.

Movies The Arclight is a fancy movie chain, and the Hollywood location (near Amoeba Records) is also the home of the Cinerama Dome, which is pretty fun. The Vista is a great single-screen theater on the east side. There are some great rep houses on the west side - check your local listings.

Comedy Stuff The UCB has a few great shows every night at both locations. It's hard to go wrong, though you should be aware you will be seeing things that are a little rougher than whatever makes it to your town as a road show. The signature improv show is Asssscat, which is absolutely as good as it gets. Dynasty Typewriter (right by our office) has a lot of great shows these days. A great standup show is Hot Tub at the Virgil. The big comedy clubs have pretty comedy-club-y comedy in them, not necessarily what I'd recommend, though you will certainly see a lot of relatively big names doing sets. The Improv Lab sometimes has MaxFun-adjacent headliners who've put together their own lineups, as does Flappers in Burbank. Largo has bigger-name shows of this variety as well, and if you go see a show there headlined by a Sarah Silverman or Patton Oswalt, the lineup will likely be packed with their pals, even if they aren't advertised.

Some Places To Eat This is NOT a comprehensive list. First: Jonathan Gold died a few years ago, but he is still the king of LA food. Anything he recommended in the Weekly or Times is still the gold standard (no pun intended). He was also a wonderful writer and a champion of foodways that are unfamiliar to many in LA, much less outside LA. If you are a food nerd, KCRW's Good Food is a superb local food show (and podcast) produced by Nick Liao, who used to work at MaxFun.

Philipe's The French Dip A restaurant that's been around for literally a century, with sawdust on the floor, big jars of pickled eggs, ladies in hairnets and really tasty French Dips. They have competing claims to having invented them but the other competitor turned into one of those goofy sleeve-garter-barman subway tile exposed lightbulb places about ten years ago. Philipe's is totally for real and great.

Pie N Burger This is just a burger place in Pasadena that sells classic SoCal-style burgers and is really great. Cash only, though.

Langer's The only one of the Jewish delis in LA that's really worth a special trip. The #19 (pastrami, cole slaw and swiss on rye) is truly one of the world's greatest foods. Pastrami here is better than anywhere else I've ever eaten, including those famous delis in New York.

Park's BBQ

One of many great Korean BBQ restaurants in LA, but the only one recommended to me personally by Jonathan Gold. (I also like Soot Bull Jeep, which barbeques over charcoal and will leave you smelling like smoke, and Hae Jang Chong for all-you-can-eat.) (There are LOTS of different kinds of Korean food, but I am not an expert on the soups and blood sausages and bibimbaps and etc., but if you're adventurous, you could eat a different Korean food at a different spot every month in LA and make out well.)

Guelagetza Oaxacan food is one of the best kinds of food in the world, and Guelagetza is an LA institution that serves good-quality Oaxacan food. Moles, tlayudas, queso fundido. If you've never eaten any of this stuff, a couple of chicken moles are a great place to start (as is Guelagetza).

Dim Sum You can drive all the way to the San Gabriel Valley and eat at one of the many wonderful dim sum places there. That's where the best stuff is. If it's not worth a special trip to you, I like a place called Lunasia in Pasadena, and they also serve dim sum for dinner. Not a HUGE menu but good food.

Mozza This pizzeria, now a sort of group of restaurants, is an unimpeachably excellent Fancy Meal in LA. So (per my producer Kevin) are the other restaurants run by the same chef, Nancy Silverton.

The Dal Rae This is an old-timey fancy restaurant in Pico Rivera, a semi-industrial part of LA. It's just a great place to wear a suit to and eat Clams Casino. Famous for their table-made Caesar salad (legit great) and pepper steak (too peppery for me). Generally the food is excellent in a 1955 sort of way.

Bludsoe's Best Texas-style barbeque I've had outside of Texas. Used to be a window down by the airport, now a fancier place on La Brea, but I'm told the food is just as good at the fancy place.

Pupusas I love to eat pupusas. Maybe my favorite food. I really like to eat pupusas at Los Molcajetes on Hoover in Westlake (near Koreatown). Note they are weirdly big here (a regional variation of some kind) and they only take cash. (Note also this is one of 10,000 restaurants in LA named Los Molcajetes.) I also sometimes eat at a nice sit-down Salvadoran place called Las Cazuelas on Figueroa in Highland Park.

In N Out In N Out is good! It will not change your life! But it is very tasty, especially for a $4 food! Some people complain about the fries, which are fresh-cut and fried only once and thus are less crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside than some others! I think they are fine! Try In N Out, why not! But maybe don't make a whole special trip to do so!

Tacos and Other SoCal Mexican Food Stuff Everyone has their own favorite taco places, and none of my favorites are so special they should be destinations. They are mostly my favorites because they are close to my home and work. But I can tell you that I like to get sit-down Mexican-American food at La Abeja on Figueroa in LA, where I eat a lot of carne adovada and enchiladas and sometimes albondigas or breakfast. I also really like to eat carne en su jugo at Carnes Asadas Pancho Lopez on Pasadena in Lincoln Heights. I eat tacos from Tacos La Estrella on York in Highland Park or the truck (with no name) across from the Mexican consulate on Park View at sixth in Westlake. At night I sometimes get cheap tacos (I like buche) from the place that opens up on Pasadena at Avenue 37. I like the shrimp and fish tacos at Via-Mar on Figueroa. I like Huaraches from Huaraches Azteca on York. The burritos at Yuca’s in Los Feliz (or Pasadena) are great, though they are totally different from the SF-style burritos that I grew up eating. I sometimes get nachos at Carnitas Michoacan on Broadway in Lincoln Heights, which feature meat and cheese sauce and are gross but also really, really good. I have also eaten at the very fancy Mexican restaurant Border Grill and to be honest it is really good even though the interior feels a little like a cross between a fancy restaurant in 1989 and a Chili's.

El Coyote This is a famous Mexican-American restaurant from the early part of the 20th century, but you shouldn't go there because the food sucks.

Stores I Like This is going to be REAL subjective, but a few stores I like which sell the kinda stuff you'd expect me to want. &etc - A great (small) antique store at 1913 Fremont in Pasadena. The Last Bookstore - A downtown bookstore that is the closest thing to a "destination" book store in LA. Good selection and reasonable prices on used books, and a nice art book room. (Records as well, but they're not very good.) Gimme Gimme Records - I like this record store in Highland Park. You'll pay retail here, but reasonable retail, and the selection (while not immense) is really excellent. Good stuff in all genres.

Secret Headquarters - One time at this small comics store in Silver Lake the lady at the counter asked if I was Jesse from Jordan Jesse Go and they won my business forever in that moment. Don Ville - My friend Raul makes and sells shoes (and repairs them!) in the northern part of Koreatown. If you have the dough, get him to make you some shoes! The Bloke - A really great little menswear store in Pasadena. Sells cool (expensive) trad-ish brands like Drake's and Hilditch & Key and Alden. The Good Liver - A beautiful shop in Little Tokyo specializing in perfect home goods. The perfect scissors, the perfect dish towel and so forth. Some things are expensive, some aren't. H Lorenzo Archive - The "outlet" shop of a designer clothing store on the west side. Discounts aren't huge, but the selection is really interesting, and they have a good collection of one of my favorite brands, Kapital. Sid Mashburn - Excellent classic clothing shop on the west side. Suit Supply & Uniqlo - if you haven't got these where you live, they're the places I usually send people for reasonably-priced tailored clothes (Suit Supply) and cheap basics (Uniqlo). Olvera Street - This is an old-timey tourist attraction, a street of folks selling Mexican handcrafts (and their Chinese-made analogs). Right near Union Station and Philipe's, and a great place to buy factory-made huaraches (the shoes, not the food). They even have sizes big enough for me, which is pretty much impossible to find in Mexico or most Mexican-American shoe stores. Thrift Stores - I go to a lot of thrift stores but if I told you which ones you might buy something I would have bought so I'm not going to tell you which thrift stores.

Flea Markets You may know I am at the flea market every weekend. The good fleas are on Sundays, and there's one every week. First Sunday of the month is Pasadena City College, a big (and free) market with pretty reasonable pricing. PCC has a pretty big record section in addition to the regular flea market stuff. Second weekend is the famous Rose Bowl flea, which is HUGE and has a big new goods section (blech) and vintage clothing area (good!). Third weekend is Long Beach Airport, which is a great overall show. Fourth is Santa Monica airport, which is smaller and a little fancier but very nice. The Valley flea is also fourth Sundays, at Pierce College, and that's not huge but sometimes surprises me. With all of these, the earlier you can arrive, the better you'll do (not least for weather reasons). I usually try to get there around 7:30 or 8:00. The Rose Bowl in particularl is a 4-6 hour operation if you do most of it. There are also a lot of swap meets - I don't know enought to recommend any in particular, but these are much more about tube socks and batteries and bootleg movies than antiques and collectibles. Still can be fun, though, and are certainly a proud SoCal tradition. (The Silverlake Flea and the Melrose Trading Post are garbage, don't go there.)

Going to the Beach I'm not a huge beach goer, but by all means go to the beach if that's your thing. The Annenberg Community Beach House in Santa Monica is a great place to base your operation, though you have to arrive in the morning on busy days to get a parking spot.

Kid Stuff I mentioned Travel Town, that's pretty great. Kidspace in Pasadena is a very good children's museum. The Bob Baker Marionette Theater is a great place to see a marionette show straight out of 1966. There's a good aquarium in Long Beach though it's a bit nutty there on weekends, and the zoo in Griffith Park is a good zoo. I really like Descanso Gardens, a big botanical garden northeast of LA. Huntington Gardens is also very nice, though it's much more expensive and hotter.

Geography Los Angeles is BIG. I'd say try to spend each of your days within about a sixth of it, geographically. It's entirely possible to do west side and east side stuff on the same trip, but don't try to do them on the same day. Look at a map and look at driving times when you're planning. Neighborhoods in LA are BIG, geographically speaking, don't assume two things in the same neighborhood are an easy walk. There aren't a ton of urban neighborhoods suitable for wandering in the way there are in some places. A few manageable general areas for stuff you might like: Silverlake/Los Feliz/Echo Park, Koreatown, Highland Park, downtown, Little Tokyo and the Arts District. (I live in the northeast part of town, and don't spend much time on the west side, which is one reason why this list focuses more on east side stuff. Some folks like West Hollywood and Venice on the west side. Long Beach and Pasadena are both neat towns with their own thing going on that might be worth a visit, too.)

Books & Media The Great Los Angeles Book is probably City of Quartz, a socialist-leaning history of LA. I really loved Susan Orlean's The Library Book, which is about the library as an institution, but also specifically the LA central library and the mysterious fire that nearly destroyed it. And a wild guy named Charles Lummis who was one of the founding fathers of LA culture and was really something else. (You can visit his house - it's right off the 110 near Highland Park.) An LA movie I love is The Long Goodbye, which is sort of a predecessor/inspiration for The Big Lebowski. A shaggy mystery directed by Altman where Elliott Gould just sort of wanders around LA. Another really cool one is Los Angeles Plays Itself, a long (long!) film essay about the ways the real Los Angeles has been used to create fictional worlds in film over the decades.

TV Tapings I'm not an expert in TV tapings. I can say that I've been to a few Conan tapings, and while it takes a LOOOOONG time to get in there, the show is fun to watch live. This is generally true of talk shows and most game shows, which tape more or less as-live. Sitcoms take WAY longer than you were expecting them to. Make sure to try to book tickets early if you have something you want to see. No matter what it's a most-of-the-day thing.

Nightlife Is a word that describes evening activities - especially dance clubs. I am old and don't know about these things.

The Magic Castle I can't get you in, please don't ask me to. I went a couple times. It's fine. If you're not into magic you're not missing too much. If you are, then obviously, it's a priority.

The Walk of Fame and Hollywood Not recommended, not worth it, don't bother.

Disneyland Why would you want my opinion about Disneyland? It's Disneyland. You're in or you're out.

San Diego If you happen to plan a side trip to San Diego, you can take the Amtrak there, and it is a breathtakingly beautiful and exceedingly pleasant trip. I have no San Diego expertise to impart beyond that, however.

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imagitory · 5 years ago

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D-Views: The Princess and the Frog (with guest input!)

Hi everybody! Welcome to another installment of D-Views, my on-going written review series focused around the works of the Walt Disney Company, as well as occasionally films made by other studios that were influenced by Disney’s works! For reviews for Disney films like Mary Poppins, The Little Mermaid, and Treasure Planet or non-Disney films like Anastasia, The Nutcracker Prince, or The Prince of Egypt, please consult my “Disney reviews” tag!

I’m super excited about today’s subject -- not only is its heroine my favorite Disney princess, but I also won’t be watching the movie alone! My darling mum, who has in the past helped me review Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, has graciously agreed to co-review this with me! We hope that you will join us on this magical adventure through the Louisiana bayou as we review...The Princess and the Frog!

In the early 2000′s, the Walt Disney Company -- especially its animation department -- was in trouble. Of all of the films done in the so-called “Experimental Era,” the only animated film that had made Disney a real profit was 2002′s Lilo and Stitch. The others, even if they did manage to receive favorable reviews, were all financial disappointments. The Emperor’s New Groove was fourth at the box office opening weekend behind movies like What Women Want and How the Grinch Stole Christmas and only grossed about 169 million dollars in theaters worldwide after costing 100 million to make. Brother Bear even now boasts a rather sad 37% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. And even if Atlantis: The Lost Empire hadn’t received such lukewarm reviews and been accused of plagiarizing several other movies (most notably Nadia: The Secret of the Blue Water, Stargate, and, as I’ve discussed previously, Castle in the Sky), it wouldn’t have changed the fact that it was released the same year as Dreamworks’ green monster hit Shrek. But no Experimental Era film did as badly as the last one -- Home on the Range -- which after its release in 2004 was so badly received both by critics and at the box office that it prompted Disney to write down the production costs and announce the closing of its 2D animation department for good.

But it didn’t close for good. In 2006, the new president and chief creative officer of the company, Ed Cadmill and John Lasseter, reversed the decision. The 2D animation department had one last chance to turn their dark destiny around, and in 2009, as Disney did after World War II with Cinderella and in the late 80′s with The Little Mermaid, it pinned its hopes on a beautiful, goodhearted princess.

The Princess and the Frog in some ways was Disney’s attempt to return to their Disney Renaissance roots. Its directors -- John Musker and Ron Clements -- had previously directed The Little Mermaid and Aladdin among others. The reinvented fairy tale story features magic, a theatrical villain, a prince, animal sidekicks, romance, and Broadway-musical-style songs. Even the advertising highlighted how much it wanted to remind millennial audiences of the films they grew up with, putting a spotlight on the music and beautiful hand-drawn animation, rather than the “adult,” meta humor that Dreamworks had used to advertise its films and Disney later used to advertise its next Disney princess movie, Tangled. Some production details leaked to the public, such as the title of “The Frog Princess,” the main character’s original name, and her profession as a chambermaid, also were edited upon receiving backlash, and still others (such as the use of voodoo in the plot and our black princess’s prince not being black) were just left as is. Despite all of the negative press that swirled around the project, there was also a lot of promise that Disney fans noted too, such as Dreamgirls supporting actress Anika Noni Rose being cast as Tiana, Pixar composer Randy Newman being chosen to write the film’s score and songs, and Oprah Winfrey being brought on both as a technical consultant and the voice of Tiana’s mother Eudora.

The marketing decision to focus more on nostalgic millennial adults rather than the new Generation Z is what I feel largely contributed to The Princess and the Frog not being the blockbuster Disney was hoping for. As much as I wholeheartedly believe that animation is not and has never been a children’s medium, the attitude that lingered around the public consciousness in the late 2000′s and sadly even today is that animation -- most importantly, 2D animation -- is for kids, and without the kids being just as excited to watch the film as their nostalgic parents, uncles, aunts, and older siblings, The Princess and the Frog was fighting an uphill battle, even if it was produced by a marketing monster like Disney. Even though the movie was handicapped by this bad marketing choice, however, I would still argue that The Princess and the Frog was a success. Even with that bad marketing choice, the racism-themed controversies that had swirled around its production, and the release of James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar a week later weighing it down, Tiana costumes were selling out everywhere prior to Halloween that year. The movie still was #1 at the box office opening weekend, an honor not held by a Disney animated movie since Lilo and Stitch. It still made $104.4 million and was the fifth highest grossing film that year. It still earned pretty favorable reviews, earning an 85% at Rotten Tomatoes.

Sadly, because The Princess and the Frog wasn’t the big blockbuster that The Little Mermaid had been, Disney turned its focus more toward its 3D projects, and after the release of Winnie the Pooh in 2011 (the same weekend as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 -- COME ON, DISNEY, WERE YOU EVEN TRYING TO GIVE THIS FILM A CHANCE??), the 2D department did close its doors after all, and the studio went in a new direction with the release of Tangled. It’s a choice I lament Disney making, for as much as I’ve enjoyed most of the 3D entries to the Disney Revival, there was something so utterly magical about seeing The Princess and the Frog’s premiere at Walt Disney Studios in Burbank with my mother back in 2009. 2D animation is a beautiful art form, and it’s frustrating that Disney has turned its back on it so thoroughly after it got Disney to where it is now. The Princess and the Frog could’ve been the Great Mouse Detective to another 2D film that could’ve been a Little Mermaid and proved once again that 2D animation is for everyone, not just for kids, just as Little Mermaid did. But instead, the film that was the Revival version of The Little Mermaid was Disney’s first 3D princess film, Tangled -- and not to diss Tangled as a film, but it saddens me that it succeeded largely by playing to the public’s ignorant attitude that 3D animation is more “adult” than 2D animation and that the way to communicate that your animated movie is “for adults too” in your trailers is through using snarky meta humor rather than through artistry and complex themes.

With all this background out of the way...laissez le beau temps rouler! Let’s start the film!

Anika’s singing voice starting our film out is just a perfect introduction. Its pure, unassuming tone just ripples with sincerity as we are led into our introductory scene for our main character Tiana, her mother Eudora, and her absolutely hysterical best friend, Charlotte “Lottie” La Bouff. As we leave the La Bouff manor, we also see a touch of the “Lady and the Tramp influence” that Musker and Clements added to the production in the background design. Just by transitioning from the well-kept, affluent neighborhood in the dimming sunlight to the more run-down areas of town at night, we get a perfect, complete sense of the environment that our heroine lives in, all without any dialogue. And yet, as Mum pointed out, even the rundown areas are full of warmth and charm. Just like in Lady and the Tramp, they never look scary or shady, simply modest and maybe a little worn. On the note of charm, as well, I absolutely friggin’ adore Tiana’s dad, James. Considering how big of a role he has in the story, it’s really good that we see how big of an impact he had on his daughter through his good, hard-working attitude and love for his family and neighborhood despite not having much screen-time.

Once the “Walt Disney Pictures” banner floats by, we finally meet Tiana as an adult. As mentioned earlier, Tiana is my favorite Disney princess. Part of the reason why comes back to the fact that Tiana’s movie came out right before I started my first job (ironically enough at a restaurant in Disney World) and she inspired me to give 120% everyday, but the other reason Tiana speaks to me so much is because she reminds me quite a bit of Mum! Like my mother, Tiana is a very warmhearted, logical, and hardworking person who never sits on her laurels and is always ready to fix a problem, and it was really cool to see a Disney princess with the same kind of organized mind and stubborn work ethic that I saw in my mum growing up. That feeling I had watching Tiana’s story is one of the things that inspired me to write my Disney crossover story TrueMagic, where I wrote a character directly inspired by Mum. On top of all that, I realize that Tiana speaks a lot of the millennial and gen Z experience, having to save up a lot of money at two dead-end minimum wage jobs just to try to get ahead in a world where the cards are stacked against her. We even see her sleeping in the room she grew up in, meaning she’s still living at home as an adult to make ends meet!! Isn’t that relatable!!

I have heard others critique Randy Newman’s music, but in my opinion the score and songs developed for this movie perfectly set the mood of 1920′s New Orleans. The opening number “Down in New Orleans” is really well-paced with the medley of scenes introducing Tiana’s usual work day, Dr. Facilier’s vindictiveness and desire for Eli La Bouff’s wealth, Naveen’s playboy attitude, and Charlotte’s instant attraction to the newly arrived Prince. Of the songs, I’d personally cite Tiana’s “Almost There” and Facilier’s “Friends on the Other Side” as the strongest links, with “Gonna Take You There” as the weakest, but even if you don’t end up finding the songs catchy, I don’t think anyone can deny how well it suits the film’s setting.

Now admittedly, one critique you could give the film is its idealized, whitewashed view of historical race relations. Let’s be honest: in the 1920′s, a rich cotton baron like Eli La Bouff would not have visited a cafe on Tiana’s side of town and he would not let his precious daughter engage with Tiana as an adult either. As much as there were people who didn’t follow the common attitude that black Americans were somehow “inferior” to white Americans, if you didn’t follow that attitude, you couldn’t have expected to be very financially successful or influential in such a racist society, as Mr. La Bouff is. On top of that, Tiana would not only be facing passive prejudice when trying to open her own restaurant, like the kind the Fenner brothers express about her “background” -- she would also be likely facing active discrimination and potentially violence. As much as this film doesn’t truly represent the way things were back then, however, I would argue that the decision in the end benefits the picture, which clearly is supposed to be a fairy tale. This is a story where a girl kisses a frog, becomes one herself, meets an alligator who plays the blues and a firefly in love with a star, and both fights against and alongside people who practice voodoo. It may have a historical backdrop, kind of like Pocahontas and The Great Mouse Detective do, but it is still a fantasy. There are other films that aim to teach us about how things really were back then, so why can’t we have one where a young black American lives her own fairy tale in the iconic Crescent City? Plus, in Mum’s words, an integral part of this story is the pure, unlikely friendship between Charlotte and Tiana, which would have been close to impossible in a completely historical setting. To my memory, it’s actually one of the few times we see a close friendship between two female contemporaries in a Disney princess movie -- the closest we’d had previously were relationships like Aurora with the three fairies (which was more of a familial relationship) and Belle and Mrs. Potts (which...yeah, big generation gap). Even in films that came later, we have Elsa and Anna, but they’re sisters, not just friends. And Tiana having a friend like Charlotte ends up being pivotal in her eventual triumph.

Speaking of Charlotte and her friendship with Tiana, something I love about her is that she doesn’t just give Tiana the money she needs to open her own restaurant. Instead, because she knows Tiana has pride and wouldn’t just accept the money for nothing, Charlotte finds a reason for her to give her the money she needs by assigning her the task of making beignets for the ball she and her father are hosting. It’s something that reminds me a bit of my mum and her best friend, who also comes from a wealthy family -- like Charlotte, my mum’s best friend likes spending money on my mum, but has always known that she can’t buy my mum’s friendship. Both she and Charlotte know that you can only be a friend through expressing sincere caring, which is the mark of a true friend.

Ever since The Princess and the Frog first came out, “Almost There” has been my work mantra, and every time I hear it, I just am full of drive and excitement. The animation for this sequence -- animated by senior Disney icon Eric Goldberg, who previously worked on the Rhapsody in Blue segment in Fantasia 2000 and was the supervising animator for the Genie in Aladdin -- is also pitch perfect, incorporating both Al Hiershfeld-inspired designs and an Art Deco vibe to envelope us in Tiana’s fantasy. It’s one of the kind of artistic risks that Disney used to do more often, like the Pink Elephants sequence in Dumbo, the fairy’s gift sequences in Sleeping Beauty, and the Zero to Hero sequence in Hercules, and you just don’t see this sort of highly stylized song sequence in most of Disney’s newer films. The only one that comes to mind is the “You’re Welcome” sequence in Moana, which ironically enough also featured Eric Goldberg drawing all of Maui’s “Mini-Maui” tattoos! Those sorts of stylized musical numbers is something I’d love to see more of in the Disney Revival, because it gives the film in question such character and can bring an already great song to new heights.

Naveen is a character who I could’ve very easily disliked upon first meeting him. Obnoxious, selfish, and/or vain characters -- such as Lightning McQueen from Cars or even Kuzco from The Emperor’s New Groove -- really tend to rub me the wrong way, unless there is something in the character at the very beginning that makes me want to see them improve themselves. Fortunately our main prince is saved for me because we see that along with his vain, shallow, playboy attitude, he also expresses a great love of music and living life to the fullest. He doesn’t ignore his responsibilities as a prince just to be rebellious or lazy, but because he is so in love with New Orleans and its culture. He isn’t an angry or willfully condescending person: he immediately starts dancing with regular New Orleans citizens and is enthralled with the moves of a tiny street entertainer. And just as Tiana represents the millennial experience through working multiple jobs just to make ends meet, Naveen expresses a different kind of millennial experience -- that of being so sheltered by one’s privilege that, once you’re on your own, you’re incapable of sustaining the life style you’ve become accustomed to and are led by society to believe you should be able to achieve. At this point, it’s still easy to feel sorry for Lawrence, Naveen’s resident “Peter Pettigrew-look-alike” manservant, though that impulse quickly disappears after we see his interactions with our villain, Dr. Facilier. Speaking of which...

Just as Tiana is my favorite Disney princess, Dr. Facilier is my favorite Disney villain. Voiced by Keith David, the man who previously gave life to Goliath in Disney’s Gargoyles, the so-called “Shadowman” is -- in Mum’s words -- just “deliciously evil.” His voice drips with cold charisma, dipping into rich bass tones but never sounding groggy or lacking in energy, and the animation -- done by Bruce W. Smith, supervising animator for Oscar Proud from the Disney Channel show The Proud Family -- just fits David’s line-reads like a glove. Although Lawrence briefly provokes Facilier, effectively foreshadowing his true viciousness, the witch doctor largely puts on a theatrical persona that entices even the most jaded viewers in with his song “Friends on the Other Side.” Mum brought up the wonderful comparison to Oogie Boogie in Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, and just like Oogie Boogie, Facilier’s number feels very unscripted and spontaneous, and yet it’s still conniving. Even though the song is jazzy and oddly conversational, there’s this dangerous, sinister darkness echoing in the background, not just in the echoing voices of the Friends on the Other Side but in the lyrics with multiple meanings (”when I look into your future, it’s the green that I’ve seen”). Along with the theatricality, however, Facilier doesn’t forget to also be very intimidating as a villain -- the scene where he turns Naveen into a frog gets quite scary in its imagery.

Just as everything seems to have come up roses for her, Tiana is suddenly about to lose the restaurant of her dreams for good. But there is still hope -- or, at least...there’s a frog. Or a prince. A frog pri -- you get the point. Interestingly Naveen, while a frog, reminded Mum and me of two very different characters. Mum immediately thought of Aladdin, thanks to his charming, smiling expressions, while I immediately thought of another frog seeking a kiss from a beautiful girl: Jean-Bob from The Swan Princess. I personally think the second of those is a coincidence, given that Jean-Bob and Naveen really don’t have much in common excluding a flamboyant accent, but Aladdin’s influence on Naveen’s character animation is pretty reasonable. After all, Flynn Rider’s design was also influenced by previous Disney princes.

Not having seen this movie in a while, I’d forgotten about the “frog hunters” sequence in the middle of the movie until it came on screen. I know that Tiana and Naveen had to face multiple dangers before they reached Mama Odie, not just for dramatic storytelling but also to help cement their budding relationship...but I’m sorry, the characters of the frog hunters are just...uncomfortable. The stereotypical portrayal just comes across as very mean-spirited, especially when compared to the great respect for New Orleans culture in the rest of the movie. The scene does give Tiana and Naveen good character development, though, so it’s a flaw I can overlook to enjoy the rest of the movie.

Usually I don’t enjoy Disney “sidekick” characters as much as I do more developed main or side characters, but I will grant that as sidekicks go, Louis the alligator and especially Ray the firefly are among the better ones. Louis is kind of there for humor more than to advance the plot at all, which is a shame, but Ray becomes both ridiculously charming and central to the film’s theme of love when we see his romantic side in his song “Ma Belle Evangeline.” This song has special significance to Mum and me, all because of Mum’s little Russian Blue/Short-Hair kitty, Evangeline, or Eva for short. When Eva and her sister Ella (full name Cinderella) were being driven home from the pound, the two cats were absolutely beside themselves, crying and yowling the whole way. The only thing that quieted them was me singing songs to them, including songs based on their names -- Cinderella’s opening theme (”Cinderella, you’re as lovely as your name”) for Ella, and “Ma Belle Evangeline” for Eva. Even now, Eva knows that that song is her song, and she always relaxes whenever she hears it. The song sequence in the film also beautifully reflects Tiana and Naveen’s budding relationship, which has already affected them enough that they are starting to take influence from each other. Tiana has started to open up and have some fun, while Naveen is more able to acknowledge his shortcomings and takes more responsibility. They even see eye to eye enough that they stop Louis from telling Ray that Evangeline is a star, not a firefly. Tiana/Naveen is my Disney OTP mainly because of that influence that they have on each other. Both of them are such beautifully flawed characters, but they both also teach and encourage each other to be better people than they would have been on their own.

Tiana and Naveen learn that if they want to turn human again, they need help from Charlotte, who will be “princess” of the Mardi Gras Parade until midnight that night. Unfortunately, when Tiana finds Charlotte, she finds her about to marry who she thinks is Naveen on a float in the parade. Admittedly I kind of wonder why Tiana didn’t consider that it might not be Naveen, as earlier she saw a human Naveen dancing with Charlotte before meeting frog!Naveen and so should know there’s an imposter, but I suppose it’s just story convention, to have this kind of a pre-climax misunderstanding. It’s the same reason why Naveen is locked in a box on the float where he can interrupt the wedding, rather than being stowed away more securely somewhere else, or why Charlotte didn’t turn into a frog too after not being able to turn Tiana and Naveen back.

At long last, our climax arrives. After Dr. Facilier “lays Ray low” in a scene that makes both Mum and me cry out in grief, he corners Tiana in the graveyard, enticing her with the dream she’s worked so hard for in the hopes of getting the medallion that would allow Lawrence to impersonate Naveen and Facilier to steal the La Bouff fortune. But because of all of the character development Tiana’s gone through, she remembers what’s really important -- the people she loves -- and she outdoes the Shadowman, condemning him to be yanked down into the underworld by his so-called “Friends” for all time. The growth Tia’s gone through also gives her the strength and courage needed to put her dream aside and tell Naveen about her feelings for him. And because she’s a true friend, Charlotte shows no hint of bitterness about missing out on her “happily ever after” with Naveen -- instead she immediately is supportive of her friend and tries to fight for her happiness, to the extent that she looks over the moon when Tiana and Naveen get married as humans. Even Ray, who Mum wishes desperately had been able to make it, achieves happiness by finally becoming a star beside his beloved Evangeline. As our film comes to an end with a reprise of “Down in New Orleans,” we’re left with a sense of triumph and optimism...two things that embody our newly crowned princess beautifully.

The Princess and the Frog is a movie that, in Mum’s and my opinion, should receive much more appreciation that it has. Financially speaking, it only did about as well as The Great Mouse Detective and Lilo and Stitch in theaters, but it still has left a lasting impact. I still see plenty of little girls dressing as Tiana in the parks, and I still hear about young black women and girls who have found validation and comfort in the first African American Disney princess. Even I, who share a complexion with white bread, find Tiana an engaging, brilliant role model in today’s world -- in Mum’s words, she embraces the idea of success being half inspiration and half perspiration, but she also learns the virtue in disregarding the chase for success when it comes at the cost of your values. She learns how to love, how to grow, and how to change, while also encouraging the best from those around her. The Princess and the Frog also features what I would argue is the best Disney animated villain since the Disney Renaissance, a soundtrack that embraces its setting to the Nth degree, and a prince who grows just as much as his love interest does while they are together. It’s not a perfect film, but no film is, and Mum and I hope that like other Disney films that didn’t make much money on their initial theatrical releases, we as a Disney fanbase can make this movie a cult classic and give it the love it fought so hard to earn and so rightfully deserves. Look how it lights up the screen -- ma belle Princess and the Frog!

#d-views #disney reviews #mum and tory watch together!!#disney #the princess and the frog #reviews #opinion #analysis #oh boy here i go

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disneytva · 6 years ago

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Disney Television Studios Makes Splashy Debut at Walt Disney Television Upfront

Upfronts week always revolves around big reveals and highly anticipated first looks. This year, one of the most talked-about contenders to emerge was not a show but a studio.

The newly minted Disney Television Studios made a splashy debut as three of the industry’s large production entities – 20th Century Fox Television, ABC Studios and Fox 21 Television Studios – have come together under one roof following Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox.

The mantra on the Century City and Burbank lots is collaboration and cross-pollination of talent. The three companies will continue to be run with autonomy as distinct labels under the Disney Television Studios umbrella. But there is a clear expectation that the labels will share resources and information as warranted to support the larger cause of feeding successful shows to Disney’s suite of platforms.

Executives at the DTS studios have spent the past few weeks on a whirlwind get-to-know-your-colleagues tour. There have been meetings and presentations galore – perhaps a few too many all at once, some have noted.

But the goal has been for the studio executives to get to know one another and for the company’s production engines to be aware of the programming needs of the various networks and platforms from Disney Plus to FX to Freeform to Nat Geo, from ABC News to ESPN to Disney Channel. Face time is important in part because 20th TV and Fox 21, still housed on the Fox lot, remain physically separate from ABC Studios’ outpost on Disney’s Burbank lot.

On May 14, the announcement that Disney has taken full operational control of Hulu added more wind to DTS’ sails as it clears the path for Disney to manage the growing streaming platform as it sees fit. The closer association with Hulu will greatly benefit FX Networks, which isn’t part of the Disney Plus family friendly streaming platform, as well as the studios geared toward producing adult-focused primetime fare.

Among the high-profile new offerings from DTS are NBC’s Bradley Whitford comedy “Perfect Harmony,” from 20th TV, and ABC’s Cobie Smulders drama “Stumptown,” from ABC Studios.

On May 13, as Team Disney assembled in New York for upfronts, a group of about 30 senior studio executives assembled at Benno restaurant in Chelsea for a mixer that left attendees energized. Dana Walden, chairman of Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment, reinforced the collaboration message to the crowd and detailed how she courted Warner Bros. alum Craig Hunegs for months to take the leadership role as DTS president.

Leadership of the three labels has remained intact, with Jonathan Davis and Howard Kurtzman running 20th TV as presidents, Patrick Moran heading ABC Studios as president and Bert Salke at the helm of Fox 21 as president. The fact that the studio leaders and many other executives know each other well from professional and social circles has also helped the integration process. Moran spent seven years as a development executive at 20th Century Fox TV before joining ABC Studios in 2010 – which gives him an invaluable level of familiarity with his counterparts.

“You can’t look at the combination of these two companies and not feel a lot of excitement about a great future ahead,” said Kurtzman.

In planning for the integration of Disney and 21st Century Fox, Walden and her boss, Disney Television chairman Peter Rice, determined that the creative process would be best served by maintaining multiple labels rather than creating one overarching studio. “The messaging has been consistent,” Moran said. “They felt it was better to have three labels to service all of the (production needs) rather than to try to do it all under one platform.”

An early example of the all-for-one attitude was the move of former “Star” showrunner Karin Gist, who has an overall deal with 20th Century Fox TV, to become co-showrunner with Kenya Barris of ABC’s upcoming comedy “Mixed-ish,” which hails from ABC Studios. The deal came together quickly at Barris’ instigation.

“A win is a win is a win for everybody,” said Davis. “When Patrick called us, we said ‘We love Karen. We love Kenya. This would be great.’ We want everyone involved with ‘Mixed-ish’ to succeed. It’s imperative that we all work together to get the right creatives to the right shows at the right place.”

Moran credited Hunegs with setting a tone from the start that a sincere spirit of esprit de corps was essential to fulfilling the expansive vision outlined by Disney chairman-CEO Bob Iger in bringing together the formidable collection of TV-related assets through the Fox transaction.

“Craig’s done a good job of making sure we’re all connected,” Moran said. “If it feels like a win for one of us it should be a win for everybody. The realignment of the studios has not been tricky. We’re all still pursuing our own projects with our own creative partners because we all bring our own histories with our producers. But if you look at the total roster of talent it’s a pretty impressive list across the three studios.”

Salke noted that after the 18-month period of waiting for the Disney-Fox deal to close, there is renewed energy in the hallways, in part because the studios are seeing the promised additional resources to make deals, chase IP and court talent.

“This is an incredible universe that Disney has put together,” Salke said. “When you see it all put together, it makes incredible sense. Hulu was the final piece.”

The studio leaders say they are all under pressure to increase their output to feed Disney’s voracious appetite for content for Disney Plus, ABC, Freeform, FX and other outlets. At same time, the three banners all intend to continue fielding shows to non-Disney networks and platforms. Both 20th TV and ABC Studios have long balanced a directive to supply hits to internal networks with the desire to maintain a diverse portfolio of business all over town.

The marching orders are daunting, but the growth initiative has been backed by bigger budgets for the three banners.

“We have been handed a very large early Christmas present in terms of financial support to be able to build something pretty great,” Salke said.

Outside of Disney’s enlarged walls, there is concern among rival networks and studios about the market heft that Disney Television Studios will command. There’s also curiosity about whether Disney will be a big enough buyer and employer of creative talent to counter the inflationary effects of the eye-popping talent deals handed out in recent years by Netflix, Amazon and the nascent Apple streaming effort.

The trio of banners in Disney Television Studios closed out upfront week with 14 new broadcast series orders and 24 returning series. All told, DTS at present produces 69 series across 16 broadcast, cable and digital platforms. But even more important than a strong tally of new shows this year was demonstrating how the company aims to make DTS more than the sum of its parts.

“This was our first development season as a collective and our results already demonstrate the scope and power of our studios,” said Hunegs. “We are committed to making Disney Television Studios the best home for creative talent in our industry, and we’re enormously encouraged by these early returns.”

#Walt Disney Television #Disney Television Studios #20th Century Fox Television #20th Century Fox Television Animation #ABC Studios #Fox21 Television Studios #Fox 21 Studios

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isabelrtie · 4 years ago

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Avenue south residences condo

If Los Angeles, so wide and diverse, has no real heart; it has nonetheless a center, around the buildings of the business district and its unique ancient street, Olivera Street. Here lie the remains of the pueblo of Mexico and numerous restaurants. You will see also Avila Adobe, the oldest house in the corner (1818).

When on Los Angeles vacations, the architecture of neighboring buildings deserve you ran the streets recently of the renovated center, bordered by the majority of buildings oriented political and cultural city. Pride of Los Angeles, the Music Center is a giant whole course dedicated to music. Nearby, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) houses a permanent collection of paintings post-1940: Rothko, Kline, etc. At 250 South Grand Avenue, visit the Museum of Modern Art. From the top of City Hall, overlooking the city is breathtaking. To the southeast, at the height of 1st and Central Streets, you will discover Little Tokyo shopping center and theme. North of the Civic Center, Chinatown has many restaurants and shops, particularly in the pedestrian street, Gin Ling Way.

Northeast of downtown, Pasadena, one of the first neighborhoods of Los Angeles, offers several interesting museums. Inside Highland Park, Southwest Museum displays collections of art and crafts of India. In San Marino, Huntington Library includes more than 6 million in rare coins. At 411 West Colorado Boulevard, the Norton Simon Museum is devoted to Impressionist painting.

Symbol of Los Angeles, Avenue south residences condo Hollywood stretches north-west of downtown, dominated by white letters that spell its name since the 1920s. When Charlie Chaplin arrived here in 1913, the place does little more than a barn where Cecil B. Mille has turned his first film. The barn became the Hollywood Studio Museum, devoted to silent cinema, and Hollywood has transferred most of its studios to the north in Burbank or the San Fernando Valley, with the exception of Paramount (5555 Melrose Avenue). A mid-distance is the Universal Studios (on Lanker shim Boulevard, North Hollywood Freeway).

Farther south, Hollywood Boulevard no longer knows the splendor of yesteryear. The famous avenue, dotted with more than 2,500 bronze stars on behalf of actors and directors the most famous lost its glitter. In front of the Mann's Chinese Theater, built by Sid Graumann in 1927, the stars have carved their name and left their mark.

Farther west, Sunset Boulevard (parallel to Hollywood Blvd) becomes sinuous, taking on the residential appearance. West Hollywood, filled with art galleries, shops and restaurants, is a fashionable place. South Side, the Farmer's Market (Fairfax and 3rd Streets) is a huge outdoor market.

Along Wilshire Avenue, you will find several museums, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (5905 Wilshire), which has collections of paintings, a sculpture garden and a collection of oriental art.

In the district of Beverly Hills, fabulous villas with landscaped gardens of stars and businessmen who have managed to succeed in a riot of styles: Bauhaus, Gothic, Spanish, English, among others. Stroll through the maze of quiet streets on your Los Angeles vacations for peaceful evenings. Carolwood Drive has counted among its residents Elvis Presley (144) Barbra Streisand (325), Walt Disney (355).

As an extension of downtown, Santa Monica is the favorite recreation area for the residents of Los Angeles. Along its beach adorned with palm trees (Palisades Park), roller-skaters and cyclists are training or walking.

The Getty Center in the Santa Monica Mountains above the San Diego Freeway is comprised of six buildings designed by Richard Meier. They house the new Museum J. Paul Getty and various art institutions. Their collection includes illuminated manuscripts, sculpture, photographs, drawings and European paintings earlier in the twentieth century.

Venice Beach, the fashionable beach around Los Angeles gets its name from its many canals, dug at the beginning of the century by a billionaire back in Venice. Farther south, head to Marina del Rey, the largest water sports center around Los Angeles.

The westernmost of the "community" of Los Angeles, Malibu, bordered by a beach popular with surfers, is the new residential area of Hollywood stars. You can visit there the Getty Villa, built to house the private collection of a millionaire. The building is a faithful reconstruction enclosed garden of the villa of Papyrus, the most luxurious houses in identified Pompeii. The museum is especially famous for its collections of classical antiquity.

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wetravopedia-blog · 4 years ago

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Two Best Hotels in Burbank near Airport Los Angeles

Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood, Hollywood Burbank Airport and Porto’s Bakery are popular places that come to everyone’s mind while thinking about Burbank, but there’s a lot more to see and do than that. Burbank is truly a bank full of options for surprises, eating, shopping, and entertainment. There’s so much to do in the city, whether it’s family fun, a night on the town, a rich cultural experience, or a big business conference, it has it all. There is no formal instruction but it’s always a good option to have a little go-to list, here we are to help you with it. Do explore places like Magnolia Park, Los Angeles Equestrian Center, Olive & Thyme, The Perky Nerd, Starlight Bowl, and Urban Press Winery. While planning your trip we’ll suggest you do a little bit of research for Hotels in Burbank to avoid any kind of hassle during your vacation.

If you are wondering about good budget-friendly accommodation? We have got you sorted to Best Hotels in Los Angeles for your comfortable stay below!

Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport

Located at 2500 North Hollywood Way, Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport is a four-star hotel that offers a convenient location, two pools, and a restaurant on-site. This corporate meet casual eight-story building houses 488 rooms that feature pillowtop mattresses, flat-panel TVs with premium cable stations, coffeemakers, premium quality toiletries, and ergonomic workstations. Business travelers enjoy internet services, same-day dry cleaning, express check-in/check-out and phones with speakers, dual lines, private voicemail, and free local calls. For entertainment, guests enjoy two outdoor pools, a state-of-the-art fitness center, and in-room wiring for plug-and-play stations. The hotel also offers a guest laundry, a convention center, and 22 meeting rooms. Both self-parking and valet parking are available for an extra charge. For universal studios, reservations are required for scheduled shuttle service and park tickets are available for sale at the front desk. It takes less than a 10-minute walk to the Amtrak station and the Metrolink light-rail station. Several restaurants are within two blocks, and the major Hollywood studios including NBC Universal, Warner Brothers, and Walt Disney are less than 10 minutes' drive. The property is less than one mile from Bob Hope Airport.

Courtyard Los Angeles Burbank Airport

Located at 2100 Empire Avenue, Courtyard Los Angeles Burbank Airport is a three-star property that offers airport proximity, a pool, and on-site dining. The four-story building offers 184 non-smoking rooms that include 42-inch flat-panel TVs with premium cable, iPod docking stations, coffeemakers, mini-fridges, and free Wi-Fi. Corporate guests appreciate the business center and the ergonomic workstations. Guests can relax and unwind in the outdoor heated pool, the hot tub, the 24-hour fitness center or the lounge, home to 60-inch flat-panel TVs. The Bistro serves mouth-watering breakfast and dinner as well as Starbucks specialty coffee drinks and evening cocktails. The property also offers a convenience store and a guest laundry, and parking is available for an extra charge. The Courtyard is just within a five-minute walk from various restaurants. Popular studios including NBC Universal, Warner Brothers, and Walt Disney Studios are within three-and-a-half miles. Property is just over a mile from Bob Hope Airport.

So, these were the two finest Los Angeles Hotels and will make your visit even more memorable.

Where to get the best deals and how to book hotels online? Explore TravOpedia where you can compare rates and amenities for different properties. You can read the reviews of the guest who stayed there in the past or look into the images of the properties or research over the location of the property on maps or even videos that will help you to judge your stay.

If you are also looking for Cheap Flights to Los Angeles explore TravOpedia to get online promotional codes by exploring the web & that will help you save large.

#los angeles hotels #best hotels in los angeles #flights to los angeles #cheap flights to los angeles

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savage-kult-of-gorthaur · 11 months ago

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I'LL HAVE THE NEW YORK CUT STEAK WITH FRENCH FRIED POTATOES, ROLLS, AND BUTTER.

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on another 1940s era Walt Disney's Studio Restaurant/ Counter Service menu, with the back cover flap featuring Donald Duck as a soda jerk above a list of fountain service drinks and other ice cream treats.

The following are some of the Disney-themed restaurant specials offered upon order:

SNOW WHITE SPECIAL: "Tasty chicken salad on lettuce, with avocado, tomato, and egg" -- 40¢

HONEST JOHN'S DISH: "Creamed chicken on toast, French fried potatoes, rolls and butter. Coffee, tea, or milk" -- 40¢

STROMBOLI'S FAVORITE SANDWICH: "Hot roast prime ribs of beef with gravy, mashed potatoes and vegetables" -- 35¢

THE LITTLE PIGS' SALAD BOWL: Made with crisp lettuce, Romaine, Chicory, Watercress, celery, garnished with tomatoes, egg, and Julianne of ham and cheese (Your choice of French, 1000 Island, or Mayonaisse dressing)" -- 35¢

DUCKY FRUIT PLATE: "Chilled California fruit selection on lettuce, with French dressing, whipped cream, or honey dressing" -- 35¢

Source: http://randomneatstuff.blogspot.com/2012/04.

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tvcord5-blog · 5 years ago

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The Militant's Epic Militant CicLAvia Tour XXI!!

Interactive map! Click and drag to navigate. To view larger version, click here.

The 21st iteration of CicLAvia (and the second one of 2017) brings us the first all-new alignment since the Southeast Cities route from May, 2016. Which means...it's time for another Militant Angeleno Epic CicLAvia Tour guide!

[cue fanfare music]

This time around, we're on the second route not served by Metro Rail (though it is Metrolink-accessible), and visit the Los Angeles community of Atwater Village and the Jewel City of Glendale. Even though this route is a mini-CicLAvia route of just a little over three miles, there's tons of historical and notable points of interest along this route, and in fact, The Militant had to pare down the list just so he doesn't stay up until 5 a.m. like he usually does when he does these posts (ya, really)! So, without any delay...let's get it started!

1. Glendale-Hyperion Viaduct 1928 Hyperion Avenue, Silver Lake/Atwater Village

This 400 foot-long concrete arch bridge links the community of Silver Lake in the south with Atwater Village in the north, traversing the Los Angeles River below. Designed by Merrill Butler, who also designed another iconic Los Angeles River bridge downstream, the Sixth Street Viaduct (R.I.P.), the bridge replaced an old 1910 wooden crossing that was severely damaged during a 1927 flood. The current bridge was built later that year and opened in September 1928, which was also dedicated to World War I veterans and honorarily dubbed "Victory Memorial." In 1988, the bridge appeared in the movie, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (and thus a smaller replica of the bridge was later built at Disney's California Adventure theme park in Anaheim, paying homage to the original Walt Disney Studios' neighborhood (located where the Gelson's supermarket stands today)). Recently, the bridge was Ground Zero in a 2013-2015 controversy over whether the eventual renovation of the bridge should be designed in a more bicycle/pedestrian-friendly manner vs. a more automobile-centric design.

The Militant visited this bridge in July of 2007 in a very early MA blog post.

2. Pacific Electric Bridge Abutments and Red Car Mural 1929 (dismantled 1955); 2004 Los Angeles River at Glendale Blvd, Atwater Village

If you follow The Militant, you should know by now that his legendary epic Pacific Electric Archaeology Map from 2015 features a set of seven concrete bridge abutments across the Los Angeles River as one of the remnant traces of Red Car infrastructure. A bridge once rested on these abutments from 1929 to 1955 that carried the beloved trolleys between Downtown Los Angeles to Burbank. In 2004, local Atwater Village muralist Rafael Escamilla painted a mural on one of the abutments, which faces Red Car River Park, which was part of the old trolley's right-of-way. The line continued up Glendale Blvd and on to Brand Blvd in Glendale, before veering west on Glenoaks Blvd to Burbank.

3. Black Eyed Peas Recording Studio Opened 1996 3101 Glendale Blvd, Atwater Village

This nondescript brown two-story building on the corner of Glendale Blvd and Glenfeliz Ave features a recording studio (on the 2nd floor) owned by Los Angeles hip-hop/pop group Black Eyed Peas. Their first few albums were recorded here, including this '90s-era jam. Though the group uses more high-end recording facilities around the world, and will.i.am now has his own home studio in his Los Feliz residence, the facility is still used by members of the band and their extended musical family.

4. G-Son Studios/Beastie Boys Recording Studio Opened 1991 3208 1/2 Glendale Blvd, Atwater Village

The Peas aren't the only hip-hop influence on da AWV. Groundbreaking NY rap trio the Beastie Boys transplanted themselves to this part of Los Angeles during the 1990s (influenced by their producer and musical collaborator, the Los Angeles-raised Mario Caldato, Jr.) and recorded the albums, Check Your Head, Ill Communication and Hello Nasty here in this loft space, known as G-Son Studios, located above today's State Farm insurance office. The facility was also the headquarters of the Beasties' record label and magazine, Grand Royal. The studio was sold in 2006.

Oh yeah, R.I.P. MCA.

5. Atwater Village Redwood Tree 1964 Glendale Blvd median at Larga Ave., Atwater Village

You don't have to travel 203 miles to a national park in the Sierra Nevadas to see a redwood tree -- you can see one right here in Atwater Village during CicLAvia! This lone redwood was planted in the Glendale Blvd median by community members in 1964 and today stands at nearly 90 feet tall. Each December, the redwood is lighted by the Atwater Village Chamber of Commerce as a Christmas tree and the lighting ceremony has been an annual holiday community event for over 20 years.

6. Seeley's Furniture Building 1925/1946 1800 S. Brand Blvd, Glendale

Built in 1925 as a Spanish Baroque bank building by local architect Alfred Priest, the George Seeley Furniture Company took over the building in 1931, expanded it in 1939, and in 1946 got the Streamline Moderne make-over that remains today. The furniture store with the iconic large red neon sign was in operation until 1994, when the company closed for good. The building underwent an $8 million restoration and re-opened in 2012 as a collection of leased offices and artists' studios now known as Seeley Studios.

7. Forest Lawn Memorial Park Glendale 1906 1712 S. Glendale Ave, Glendale

Past the world's largest wrought iron gates at the entrance is the original location of the Southern California cemetery chain and the final resting place of over 250,000 people, including the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Walt Disney (no, he was not frozen), Michael Jackson and someone you know. Forest Lawn was founded in 1906 by businessman Hubert Eaton, who wanted to re-invent the cemetery by doing away with large tombstones and emphasizing landscaping and art. He also innovated the industry with an on-site mortuary. The large white building at the top of the hill with the cross on top of it (changed to a star during the Christmas holiday season) houses a free museum with rotating exhibitions, as well as the world's largest framed canvas painting, the 195-foot long The Crucifixion, completed in 1896 by Polish artist Jan Styka, who brought it to the U.S. to be displayed at the St. Louis 1904 World's Fair. Too large to be transported back to Poland, it remained in the U.S. and was lost for years until Eaton bought it in 1944 and constructed the building to display it. The Militant once rode his bike here to pay his respects to a departed operative, but was told by security that bikes weren't allowed. He asked the security where in the Forest Lawn's policies were bikes not allowed (it does not appear in any signs in the park) and the security staff couldn't find it. So there.

8. Glendale Train Station 1924 400 W. Cerritos Ave, Glendale

Originally known as the Tropico depot (more on this later), this Spanish Colonial Revival station, designed by MacDonald & Cuchot and opened in 1924, was built by the Southern Pacific Railroad, eventually serving Bay Area-bound trains such as the Daylight and the Lark. Amtrak took over train service in 1971. In 1982-1983, the Glendale station was a stop for the short-lived proto-commuter rail experiment known as CalTrain which ran from Los Angeles to Oxnard for all but 6 months. In 1989, the City of Glendale purchased the station from the Southern Pacific and in 1992, the station found real commuter service in the form of Metrolink, which serves Ventura County and the Antelope Valley. The station was renovated in 1999 and expanded to a multi-modal transportation center.

9. Tropico 1887 Glendale south of Chevy Chase Drive

The southwestern section of Glendale was once an independent town named Tropico. With fertile soil formed by the floodplains of the nearby Los Angeles River, the area was famous for its strawberry farms. It also grew a business district centered at San Fernando Road and Central Avenue (pictured left), and Forest Lawn Memorial Park was born as part of Tropico in 1906. The town became incorporated in 1911, but in 1917 its residents voted to be annexed to Glendale. Not much remains of any reference of Tropico, except for the Tropico Motel (401 W. Chevy Chase Dr) and the Tropico U.S. Post Office (120 E. Chevy Chase Dr).

10. Dinah's Fried Chicken 1967 4106 San Fernando Rd, Glendale

Just a couple blocks west of the CicLAvia route is Glendale's iconic Dinah's Fried Chicken, serving its popular boxes of fried chicken and gizzards since 1967. Established by a group of golfers, the Dinah's soft-of-chain operated a handful of restaurants around Southern California that were independently owned and operated but shared common recipes and branding (the Dinah's Family Restaurant in Culver City is the other remaining establishment). The 2006 motion picture, Little Miss Sunshine made Dinah's world-famous as their brightly-colored fried chicken buckets were featured in the film.

11. Chevy Chase Drive c. 1920s Chevy Chase Drive, Glendale

When The Militant was much younger (known as Lil'Mil), he used to wonder, when the family car drove through Glendale, why that guy from Saturday Night Live had a street named after him. It turns out the street was not named after the comedian born Cornelius Chase of Fletch and Clark Griswold fame (the name was apparently a nickname given to him by his grandmother), but after Scottish folklore, namely a story entitled The Ballad of Chevy Chase. The story refers to an apocryphal battle (the "chase") in the Cheviot Hills (no, not that Cheviot Hills) of Scotland (a.k.a. "Chevy") that thwarted off an invasion of the country. Why the Scottish reference? The Jewel City was developed in the 1880s by Leslie Coombs "L.C." Brand, a Scottish American businessman and real estate dude, whose name adorns the city's main street. And also, if it's noot Scottish, it's crap!

12. Riverdale Roundabout 2008 Riverdale Dr and Columbus Ave, Glendale

Since the last CicLAvia (Culver City meets Venice) in March featured a traffic circle, it's only fitting that you visit Glendale's only traffic circle, where Riverdale Drive intersects with Columbus Avenue, just a few short blocks west of the CicLAvia route. In 2008, Riverdale became Glendale's bike-friendly guinea pig, with the street re-configured with bike lanes to form an east-west corridor linking various parks within Glendale. So yes, you can visit this traffic circle via Glendale's existing bike infrastructure.

13. St. Mary's Armenian Apostolic Church 1926/1975 500 S. Central Ave, Glendale

Los Angeles might have Little Armenia, but Glendale has Big Armenia, with a population of 40% of all Glendalians being of Armenian descent. Though Glendale has had an Armenian community dating back to the 1920s, the majority of them arrived in the late 1970s, when the diasporic Armenian community in Lebanon fled that country during its civil war, and when Armenians in Iran likewise left when the Shah fell from power and the current Islamic fundamentalist regime took over. They settled in Glendale as it was close to the existing Armenian community in East Hollywood (now Little Armenia), yet more affordable to live. In the 1990s, another wave of Armenians arrived in Glendale, this time from the former Soviet republic of Armenia, after the dissolution of the USSR. The community established its first house of worship in a small building on Carlton Drive in 1975, and in 1988, the growing congregation took over the 1926 Colonial-style former First Church of Christ Scientist on Central Avenue. Although the St. Mary's wanted to build a dome on the structure in the 1990s to match the traditional church architecture of the motherland, the building's historic preservation status prevented them from doing it.

14. Glendale Galleria 1976 100 W. Broadway, Glendale

Built as a means to invigorate the Glendale economy and to fill a regional void for The Broadway department store between Panorama City and Pasadena (the local chain was one of the mall's development partners and the anchor tenant), the Glendale Galleria opened on October 14, 1976. And while its sister shopping center in Sherman Oaks laid claim as the, like, total epicenter of 1980s Valley Girl culture, the more alliterate Glendale Galleria went on to become the fourth largest shopping mall in Southern California and the first location for chains such as Panda Express, The Disney Store and The Apple Store. Designed by architect Jon Jerde, its layout and style became an archetype for indoor shopping malls across the country during the 1970s and 1980s. The mall was expanded with a new eastern wing across Central Ave in 1983 and underwent a 21st century facelift in 2012 in the wake of the opening of its next-door neighbor, The Americana at Brand.

The Militant may or many not have had his first date at this mall. In November 1992, during his first visit to California after winning the presidential election, then-president-elect Bill Clinton did some Holiday shopping at the Galleria with a crowd of over 30,000 to greet him (The Militant may or may not have been there, and may or may not have caught a glimpse of him in his limo as he left).

15. Max's Of Manila Restaurant/Cattleman's Ranch 1980 313 W. Broadway, Glendale

In addition to a large Armenian community, Glendale is also home to a notable Filipino immigrant population. This rustic-looking building is the first American location (opened 1980) of a major Philippine restaurant chain, specializing in Filipino-style fried chicken (sounds like a culinary theme for this CicLAvia...). If this building looks familiar, the facade is used as the setting for Louis Huang's Orlando restaurant Cattleman's Ranch in the hit ABC TV series, Fresh Off The Boat.

16. Security Trust and Savings Bank/Site of Glendale Pacific Electric Depot 1923 100 N. Brand Blvd, Glendale

The first "high-rise" (as in over two stories) building in Glendale was this Classical style six-story building on the northeast corner of Brand Blvd and Broadway, designed by Alfred Priest (who also designed the Seeley's Furniture building down the street). This was the home of the Security Trust and Savings Bank, which was a popular local bank chain in Southern California at the time. The bank took over the former First National Bank of Glendale (founded by L.C. Brand) in 1921 and eventually became Security Pacific Bank, and is now part of the Bank of America borg. Before the bank building was built, this was the site of the Glendale Pacific Electric depot, built in 1906 to serve the electric railway line that ran up and down Brand Boulevard. L.C. Brand sought the help of his friend and fellow real estate guy Henry Huntington to build his electric trolley line through Glendale to help sell property tracts and to spur development. The rest is history. You can say the place has Brand's brand all over it. This building has a historical marker placed by the city recognizing the bank building's history and the PE station that stood here prior to it.

17. The Alex Theatre 1925 216 N. Brand Blvd, Glendale

Designed by the architectural firm of Meyer & Holler (who also designed Grauman's Chinese and Egyptian theatres in Hollywood), The Alexander Theatre (named after Alexander Langley, of the Langley family that operated theatres around Southern California at the time) opened in 1925 as a venue for vaudeville entertainment, silent movies and staged plays. In 1939 the iconic facade and spire was built, designed by Lindley & Selkirk. The theatre also features a Wurlizer pipe organ, which was played by a live organist, which was the typical soundtrack for silent movies. The design of The Alex made it a popular location for world premieres of motion pictures, and from the 1940s to the 1980s, it existed as Glendale's premier movie palace. It was renovated in 1993 and is now owned by the City of Glendale for arts programming (The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra makes its seasonal home here) and special events.

18. Porto's Bakery 1982 315 N. Brand Blvd, Glendale Three things are absolutely guaranteed at Sunday's CicLAvia: 1) Sunny skies; 2) Smiling faces; and 3) A seriously long-ass line in front of Porto's. The legendary bakery was founded by the Porto family, who fled Fidel Castro's Cuba in the 1960s. The original location was actually in Silver Lake, on Sunset Boulevard and Silver Lake Drive (Los Angeles' Cuban community was once concentrated in the Echo Park-Silver Lake vicinity). In 1982, the family moved the bakery to Glendale where they actually did it and became legends. After over 45 years in business, Porto's sells 1.5 million cheese rolls and about 600,000 potato balls each month, and a little Yelp hype last year didn't hurt either. Porto's now boasts locations in Burbank, Downey, Buena Park and soon in West Covfeve Covina. Soon, places outside of Southern California will be clamoring to have a Porto's in their town, and numerous Porto's imitators will open up, each with lookalike beige, brown and yellow boxes, boasting that they're better than the original. It's good that this CicLAvia route is only three miles, so you can enjoy the route in its entirety while spending most of your day in the Porto's line.

19. Glendale Federal Savings Building 1959 401 N. Brand Blvd, Glendale

All you Mid-Century Modern fetishists, prepare to have an archigasm at CicLAvia! This quirky 10-story building, originally the home of Glendale Federal Savings, was designed by Peruvian-born architect W.A. Sarmiento, who made some bank out of drawing up bank buildings. But this was his most well-known structure, recognized by the Los Angeles Conservancy, which features an external elevator bank. Glendale Federal merged with California Federal in 1998, and today it's part of Citi Bank. The building is now home to the Hollywood Production Center (despite not actually being in Hollywood).

20. Vierendeel Truss Bridges 1937-1938 Verdugo Wash at Geneva Street, Glendale Verdugo Wash at Glenoaks Blvd, Glendale Verdugo Wash at Kenilworth Ave, Glendale

We began our Epic CicLAvia Tour with a bridge, so it's appropo that we end it with a bridge. Verdugo Wash, a 9 1/2-mile tributary of the Los Angeles River, runs south from La Crescenta paralleling the 2 Freeway, and west paralleling the 134 Freeway, where it flows in to the river near the Los Angeles Zoo area. As a part of President Franklin Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration program, the War Department's U.S. Engineers (the predecessor of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) built a series of eight steel bridges (using local steel manufactured by Consolidated Steel Corp. of Los Angeles) traversing Verdugo Wash, all in the Vierendeel Truss design, which was invented in 1896 by Belgian engineer Arthur Vierendeel. Unlike standard truss bridges, there are no diagonal members. Glendale is the home of the only Vierendeel Truss Bridges in the United States, the first of which was built at the Verdugo Wash's Central Avenue crossing. Brand Boulevard had a twin bridge, which had a separate girder bridge for the Pacific Electric in the middle. In the mid-1980s, all but three of the bridges (at Geneva Street, Glenoaks Avenue and Kenilworth Avenue) were torn down by the City of Glendale and replaced with boring concrete bridges (You can say that Glendale had some truss issues). Today you can admire the last remaining Vierendeel Truss bridges in America.

The Militant wants to raise a fist and give massive props to the Tropico Station Glendale blog, which provided an additional source of research info for this post! Happy CicLAvia on Sunday, and see you or not see you on the streets!

Source: http://militantangeleno.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-militants-epic-militant-ciclavia.html

#read more #see more #check it out #interesting #learn more

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celestialmazer · 6 years ago

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Creating Disneyland Was Like Building a Brand New City Even Magic Kingdoms need urban planners. BY JESSICA LEIGH HESTER SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

source https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/urban-planning-disneyland?

“The Disney theme parks are chock full of amusements, rides, and restaurants, but they’re also small cities that must contend with deliveries, trash, and a steady stream of both employees and visitors. No kingdom, however magic, is exempt from all sorts of pesky needs and demands. People need to be able to move from one place to another, they have to refuel, and, every so often, they’ll need to relieve themselves. Ideally, they’ll accomplish all of this efficiently, and without getting frustrated or dizzyingly lost.To cater to these less-than-wondrous requirements, the parks are, in reality, self-contained marvels of metropolis-building. Disneyland Park in California has a reliable transit system—the first monorail in the Western Hemisphere, which debuted just as many cities were expressing their love of cars and traffic by laying down ribbons of highway. Walt Disney World Resort, in Florida, innovated with trash: Cans are spaced precisely 30 feet apart, and all of them empty via underground tubes so that family vacations aren’t interrupted by vehicles hauling sun-baked garbage juice.None of this happened by accident. Long before the parks were magic, they were conceived as two-dimensional representations, or as miniatures. Like many city planners, Disney’s chief urban brainstormers and engineers first imagined the parks’ shapes, structures, and logistics, on a small scale.

In the new book Walt Disney’s Disneyland, architecture historian Chris Nichols retraces the long road from idea to the media empire’s first park. To hear one animator tell it, Disney first hatched his idea for a play land while plugging away on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937. At the film’s premiere, Disney himself made it a kind of reality superimposed atop Los Angeles. Guests strolled along the median of Crescent Heights Boulevard, which had been reimagined as “Dwarfland” and crowned with a charmingly ramshackle cottage and a cast of costumed characters.

Disney spent years collecting ideas and measuring other places against the one he was building in his mind. He scrutinized Beverly Park in Los Angeles, as well as lavishly ornate miniature rooms and reconstituted historic villages. He combed Henry Ford’s Greenfield Village, near Detroit, and Madurodam, a tourist attraction of miniatures in the Netherlands. He visited Colonial Williamsburg, where costumed reenactors roamed. Then he dabbled. Disney assembled a team of engineers and designers to plan and build a miniature world he dubbed Disneylandia. He imagined diorama scenes built inside train cars, chugging along and showcasing slices of Americana. He brought a prototype—an eight-foot-long hearth scene he called “Granny Kincaid’s Cabin”—to the Festival of California Living in 1952. Visitors crowded around to peek inside, but Disney’s enthusiasm for a full 21-car caravan ultimately evaporated. He thought the project lacked pizazz, so he cast it aside.

Still, Nichols writes, Disney was consumed by the prospect of his own park. Radio and television host Art Linkletter, who traveled with Disney to Copenhagen’s Tivoli Gardens amusement park in 1951, recalled that Disney viewed the trip as reconnaissance. “He was making notes all the time about the lights, the chairs, the seats, and the food. I asked him what he was doing, and he replied, ‘I’m just making notes about something that I’ve always dreamed of, a great, great playground,’” Linkletter remembered. Nichols reports that Disney had blueprints drawn up, and began appealing to local officials for the green light to break ground in California.

In 1952, he made his case to the Burbank City Council, for a 16-acre site between Griffith Park and his studio in Burbank. They didn’t go for it. “We don’t want the carny atmosphere in Burbank,” Nichols recounts one lawmaker saying. “We don’t want people falling in the river, or merry-go-rounds squawking all day long.” The setback got Disney thinking even bigger.

In 1953, he closed a deal to buy a swath of land in Anaheim, speckled with orange groves and walnut trees, for $4,500 per acre. Linkletter thought it was too remote to draw a crowd, but Disney forged ahead.

It was like building a new city from the ground up. The site had to be graded. Pipes had to be installed. Clay had to be packed tight over the porous ground, and railroad track had to be laid around the perimeter. When it came to the layout of the park itself, Disney envisioned the hub-and-spoke street grid that underpinned major cities such as Detroit and Washington, D.C. “I want a hub at the end of the Main Street,” he said. “The other lands will radiate, like the spokes of a wheel … Disneyland is going to be a place where you can’t get lost or tired unless you want to.”

Designers and landscape architects their hands full with models and maps. They diagrammed rides’ interiors and made small models, while Disney recruited artists who had worked on films to paint backdrops. The company retained Renié Conley, who had received an Academy Award for her costume design for Cleopatra, to outfit 10,000 employees. Disney is rumored to have spent more than $500,000—an eye-popping figure at the time—on trees and shrubbery alone.

Then, finally, in July 1955, the visitors came. As many as 15,000 people were invited to opening day, Nichols reports, but roughly twice as many showed up—and a record-breaking 90 million people tuned into a television special about the opening festivities.

If visitors picked up maps to help them navigate the new park, they could see at a glance the payoff of years of planning: the shops and restaurants lining Main Street, the plazas, the wide avenues. Once a few opening day kinks were worked out, the park became the destination it is today. The magic city had finally sprung off the drawing board and into real life.”

#disney #disneyland #disneyworld #design #architecture #building #buildings #atlas obscura #walt disney

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realtimebros · 5 years ago

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CORONAVIRUS SHUTDOWNS: LA Bars, Theaters, Gyms Shuttered

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — As the global coronavirus outbreak continues to grow — with more than 175,000 cases reported worldwide — Southern California officials have ordered major shutdowns, including schools, restaurants and theaters.

Here are the latest closures:

Shutdowns & Cancellations 2020:

MARCH 16: South Coast Plaza will close at 7 p.m. and remain closed for at least 14 days. The Orange County mall expects to reopen March 31.

MARCH 16: Santa Monica closes all bars and nightclubs which do not serve food, effective immediately and lasting at least 2 weeks. Restaurants can only serve food to-go, no one can eat on the premises.

MARCH 16: The city of Burbank closes all city buildings to the public beginning May 16.

MARCH 16: The Santa Monica Pier will be closed indefinitely beginning Monday, May 16.

MARCH 15: All bars, dine-in restaurants, gyms and movie theaters in the city of Los Angeles are closed beginning at 12 a.m. on March 16.

MARCH 15: Beverly Hills City Hall is now closed to the public until further notice and will operate as a Virtual City Hall.

MARCH 14: Southern California ski resorts Mammoth Mountain and Big Bear Mountain will shut down starting Sunday until further notice.

MARCH 14: Long Beach Pride scheduled for May 15-17 has been postponed.

MARCH 14: The Commerce Hotel & Casino, The Gardens Casino in Hawaiian Gardens, The Bicycle Hotel & Casino in Bell Gardens and Hollywood Park Casino will close this weekend and remain closed indefinitely.

MARCH 13: All Department of Recreation and Parks facilities in the city of Los Angeles will close until further notice. This includes The Griffith Observatory, The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, Sherman Oaks Castle and the EXPO Center.

MARCH 13: LEGOLAND California will close to the public beginning March 14 through March 31. LEGOLAND Hotel will remain open.

MARCH 13: The Los Angeles Public Library has closed Central Library and all 72 branches through March 31.

MARCH 13: San Diego Zoo and San Diego Safari Park will close to the public from March 16 through March 31.

MARCH 13: Craft Contemporary will close to the public through the end of the month starting March 14.

MARCH 13: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Natural History Museum, La Brea Tar Pits Museum and William S. Hart Museum will close March 14 and remain closed until further notice.

MARCH 13: Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda to close beginning at 5 p.m. Friday due to coronavirus and remain closed indefinitely.

MARCH 13: Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park to shut down beginning Saturday through March 31 due to coronavirus.

MARCH 12: The Broad museum will be closed to the public from Friday, March 13 through at least Tuesday, March 31.

MARCH 12: The Getty Center and Getty Villa will close to the public indefinitely effective Saturday, March 14.

MARCH 12: LA Pride organizers postpone all events related to the 50th Anniversary event scheduled for June 2020.

MARCH 12: The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley and the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda are both closing indefinitely after 5 p.m. Friday.

MARCH 12: Amoeba Music in Hollywood cancels all in-store performances through the end of March.

MARCH 12: Live Nation is instructing its touring shows, touring domestically and internationally, to prepare to return home.

MARCH 12: Anaheim Convention Center events have been postponed through the end of the month.

MARCH 12: The Los Angeles Zoo will close to the public effective Friday, March 13.

MARCH 12: Universal Studios Hollywood will temporarily close beginning Saturday, March 14. Universal CityWalk will remain open.

MARCH 12: Disneyland Resort and Disney California Adventure will close starting Saturday, March 14.

MARCH 12: An array of Southland theaters have cancelled performances due to coronavirus fears, including The Pantages, Center Theatre Group, The Music Center, and other venues.

MARCH 12: All events at Walt Disney Concert Hall canceled through March 31.

MARCH 11: The Paley Center announces that it will postpone its signature PaleyFest LA event, which was scheduled to begin March 13. The Paley Center said it was exploring options to reschedule the festival and that all ticket purchases would be honored for the new days.

MARCH 11: The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts announces all productions, presentations, public gatherings and educational programs through March 31 have been canceled or postponed — including “Romantics Anonymous”, “Emil and the Detectives” and Johnny Gandelsman’s Complete Bach Cello Suites concert on violin. New dates were not immediately announced.

MARCH 11: Organizers cancel the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) — scheduled for June at the Los Angeles Convention Center. In 2017, the largest tech expo in the world brought more than 68,000 people to the city and generated more than $75 million, according to the Los Angeles Business Journal.

MARCH 10: Goldenvoice announces the postponement of Coachella and Stagecoach until October 2020. The festival was originally scheduled to be held on the weekends of April 10 and April 16. It will now take place on the weekends of Oct. 9 and Oct. 16. The Stagecoach country music festival was moved to the weekend of Oct. 23.

MARCH 10: RuPaul’s DragCon LA announces that it will cancel its event scheduled for May at the Los Angeles Convention Center. The event will return to the city in 2021. The event said it was working with Eventbrite to issue refunds for existing DragCon LA ticket holders over the next 7 days.

MARCH 10: Los Angeles Times postpones the 25th Festival of Books to the weekend of Oct. 3 and 4 on the USC campus. The 4th Food Bowl, previously set for May, will also be moved to the fall, pending an official date.

MARCH 10: Sony Pictures pushes U.S. release date for the Peter Rabbit sequel “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway” from April 3 to Aug.7.

MARCH 9: Rock band Pearl Jam postpones part of its 2020 Gigaton tour set to perform in Los Angeles and San Diego.

MARCH 8: The 2020 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, scheduled to begin Monday, was canceled Sunday.

FEB. 25: Korea Times Music Festival scheduled to take place on April 25, at the Hollywood Bowl postponed. Artists who had been scheduled to perform at the festival included comedian Kim Young-cheol, singer and songwriter Ha Sung-woon, and K-pop group Momoland.

For a list of Southern California universities and schools that have been affected by the coronavirus pandemic, click here.

Canceled or Affected Sporting Events 2020:

MARCH 14: Pechanga Resort Casino will be temporarily closing starting Monday, March 16 at 12 p.m. through the end of March.

MARCH 13: The 2020 Redlands Bicycle Classic scheduled for April has been canceled.

MARCH 13: The 2020 Masters Tournament scheduled for April 6-12 has been postponed.

MARCH 12: The Long Beach Grand Prix, scheduled for April 17-19, has been canceled.

MARCH 12: NCAA canceled men’s and women’s Division I basketball tournaments days before March Madness tourney.

MARCH 12: The Los Angeles County Air Show scheduled for March 21-22 is canceled due to coronavirus concerns.

MARCH 12: Major League Baseball will suspend spring training and delay the start of the regular season.

MARCH 12: National Hockey League announces “pause” to 2019-20 season.

MARCH 12: Santa Anita Park will close to the public “effective immediately”.

MARCH 12: Big West Conference tournament has been canceled.

MARCH 12: Major League Soccer has suspended its season for a period of at least 30 days.

MARCH 11: The NBA announces it will suspend its season, effective after Wednesday night’s games, after a player tested positive for coronavirus.

MARCH 11: The Pac-12 announced that it has canceled the men’s basketball tournament and all other sporting events

MARCH 11: NCAA announces all men’s and women’s tournament games will be held without fans.

MARCH 10: All men’s and women’s Big West Tournament basketball games being played in Anaheim and Long Beach on March 10-14 will have no spectators. The games are being played at the Honda Center in Anaheim and Walter Pyramid on the campus of Long Beach State University.

#Real Time Bros HVAC contractor HVAC Heating Air-Conditioning

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sfppn · 5 years ago

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Beautiful Downtown Burbank - Day 3

Before we get into today, I did have a few more comments on Disneyland—

After a rainy arrival the day before, and matching weather today, our Disney day was practically perfect. It was as if Walt was defrosted and willed it into being.

The Disney app was surprisingly impressive. We could see line waits in real time throughput the park, avoiding a large hike to find out otherwise. Using mobile ordering, we walked up to restaurants, did a quick pickup, and sat down to enjoy.

I didn’t mention the Smuggler’s Run ride in Galaxy’s Edge. Very cool simulator where you control the Millennium Falcon! We were both pilots, and I put us into hyperspace.

So, onto Day 3.

After a later start, we made it out to the Paramount Studios tour.

Of course, we concentrated a lot on Star Trek.

We rode a golf cart around the studio, with the guide getting in and out to give quick speeches (who got very wet).

We went across the street to Lucy’s El Adobe Cafe for some great Mexican food. This has been a hangout for musicians and celebrities for decades (no, we didn’t see one).

Then we sloshed over to the TCL Theater (you know, the one with the famous handprints in cement) for a tour.

Back to the hotel for fine dining.

Well, that does it for tonight. Tomorrow, we’re going to Warner Bros stu—hold on, we’re getting an update. Due to the Coronavirus, society is shutting down. That includes Warner Bros AND that game show where the pricing needs to be correct. As a result, we’re cutting things short on this trip. Tomorrow, virus permitting, we’re going to the Sony Studio Tour and/or LaBrea Tarpits and/or The Hollywood Museum. Stay tuned!

#beautifuldowntownburbank

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lizeindisneylandblog · 6 years ago

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Hi everyone and welcome to another California trip report! This is a tour we took with the Anaheim Tour Company, and our delightful driver Tom took us around California showing us all the important parts of Walt Disney’s time in California.

If you want to see the Walt inspired outfit I wore on this trip, please check out my Disney look book that I posted on my YouTube channel.

We were travelling around in the most comfortable tour van I’ve ever seen, and it was just me, Joe and my parents with our tour guide Tom. These tours only take about eight people anyway, but luckily it was just us so things were tailored more towards us and what we wanted to see which was great.

I’m going to talk about some of these stops in their own blog posts, so this is going to be a brief overview of what we did on the Walt tour. The Anaheim Tour Company are great, and we had already been on one tour with them before this, which was the Hollywood and Warner Bros Studios combo tour. I also have one more left to tell you about! But they’re a really great company, so I highly suggest choosing them if you visit Anaheim.

Walt Disney Garage Studio

The first stop was Uncle Robert’s Barn. This is the garage that Walt rented from his Uncle Robert to use as a studio with his brother Roy. It dates back to about 1923, and it’s considered the first studio Walt ever had. It’s full of amazing memorabilia and cameras that Walt used. We also saw Uncle Robert’s house that the Barn came from, but I can’t find the picture I took of it!

Walk of Fame

Walt Disney has two stars on the Walk of Fame, one for television and one for film, and we got to see both of them. Also on Hollywood Boulevard is a few more Disney sights which I’ll talk about in a separate blog post. Then we saw the Hollywood sign from the Boulevard, and headed to our next destination.

Walt Disney Studios

Although we couldn’t go in, we got to see the Walt Disney Studios. I really hope one day I can somehow get a tour around the studios, because they look incredible. I’m going to do a blog post about it so that I can show you all the photos you can get from outside.

St Joseph Hospital

Across the street from the Walt Disney Studios lot is Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center, where Walt was admitted on November 30th 1966, and died of circulatory collapse on December 15th 1966. There, he received cobalt therapy for lung cancer, and the cancer ultimately caused the circulatory collapse that he died of. He was obviously so committed to his work that he was admitted to the hospital across the street from his beloved studio. I’m sure that if Disneyland had a hospital across the street, he would have wanted to reside there.

Tam O’Shanter

For lunch, we ate at Walt’s favourite restaurant, the Tam O’Shanter. This deserves a little blog post on it’s own, because there’s exclusive artwork drawn by the Imagineers at this restaurant, and we actually sat at Walt’s table which was such an amazing experience.

Disney Family Memorial

This was so difficult for me, and it was very hard not to cry. To go from being in the apartment he lived in at Disneyland on the Friday, and on Saturday to being near the hospital he died in earlier in the day, to now being at his final resting place.. it was all very overwhelming, but I’m so glad I can say I saw it.

Walt Disney’s Original Animation Studio

We also went to a car park that was the site of Walt’s original Walt Disney Studios, before they relocated to the one we saw in Burbank. It’s sad that it was knocked down, because I think everything to do with Walt Disney should have been preserved, but at least it has this sign!

Snow White Cottages

These were great to see, and something I knew nothing about. The Snow White cottages were built in 1931, and it is said that former Disney employees stayed in these cottages in Los Feliz, as they were not far from the original studio we just saw, while they were producing Snow White and the seven dwarfs in 1937. I love the architecture of these buildings and I’m so glad I got to see them.

Walt Disney’s First Studio

Now, I’ve said before we went to Walt’s first studio. We went to the garage he first rented, and then the studio he first built, but now we are at the site (the actual building is next door) where Walt first rented a room to use as his studio. I love that there’s this pride around Walt Disney in California, and it was so lovely to visit this place.

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Although Walt never got to see this building, it was very nice for us to visit the Walt Disney concert hall, as it was a building that I didn’t even know existed until we visited it that day.

Griffith Park

Then we visited Griffith Park, which is the park that Walt used to take Diane and Sharon and think about Disneyland. There wasn’t much for the parents to do except sit and watch, and he wanted to build a Park that families could enjoy together. I actually got to ride the carousel that the girls used to ride with Walt, and it was such an amazing experience. I’m going to do a separate blog post about this too!

Biltmore Hotel

This was the site of the 1939 Academy Awards, where Shirley Temple awarded Walt Disney with the famous Snow White and the Seven Dwarves Oscar. It was a gorgeous hotel, and scenes from Pretty Woman were actually shot there too. There was a prom going on while we were there, and I can’t imagine having my prom in a building that Walt Disney visited, when my prom was at Walsall Football Club’s stadium. Walt Disney certainly didn’t visit that.

So we probably saw more on this tour, but I was so overwhelmed that I missed taking photographs of some things, and I didn’t write down everything we saw like I should have. As I’ve mentioned, I want to do a few of the stops in a bit more detail, as this blog post is already very long and I can’t give them the credit they deserve.

If you’ve enjoyed this post, please like, comment or follow me to let me know I’m doing a good job. See ya real soon!

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The Walt Tour we took with the Anaheim Tour Company. Hi everyone and welcome to another California trip report! This is a tour we took with the…

#California #california 2018 #Disneyland #walt disney #Walt Disney Studios

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