Register now here for LA Marathon XXIV May 25, 2009, Los Angeles, CA, 91608. The running will start on Monday, May 25 2009, 7:00am. at the corner of Cahuenga and Lankershim Cahuenga Blvd And Lankershim Blvd Los Angeles, CA.

LA Marathon XXIV
Monday, May 25, 2009, 07:00 AM
Los Angeles, CA 91608
Date:
Monday, May 25, 2009
Time:
07:00 AM
Venue:
Los Angeles, CA
Address:
Cahuenga and Lankershim
Cahuenga Blvd And Lankershim Blvd
Fees:
$95.00
Online Registration Closes:
05/20/09 11:59 PM
Website:

http://www.lamarathon.com

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I love anything retro, and many things silly, if they are well done. So the other night, when Anne, my adventure buddy, told me about Charles Phoenix’s Retro Holiday Slideshow from the 50′s and 60′s, I was so excited! Especially since I had never been to the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, certainly a cinematic landmark in our Mecca of film.

A little back story before the film portion of this post: Charles Phoenix grew up in the L.A. area and always had a love for things kitsch-y. One day, several years back, he was rooting around in a thrift shop when he came across a small blue box of slides marked “our trip across country 1957″ and in that fateful moment, his life came into sharper focus (pun intended). What began as a casual collection (ok, an obsessed collection), soon turned into an passion shared with the world at large through these slide-show-cum-commentary presentations. Charles has been asked to present these glimpses into American history in the innocent years all around the U.S. and in Europe. I think it says on his website that he now has over 500,000 slides that he has collected from thrift shops, estate sales, flea markets and the like. His audience members often give him their family slides when they come to the show. They are amazing because of their momentary look into the living rooms and front yards of regular people, and I have to say my favorite of all was a slide of a home-fashioned styrofoam and tinfoil tree on a raft, listing to the left, in someone’s swimming pool.

Wikipedia has a great definition of kitsch (and here’s part of it):

Kitsch is a German term that has been used to categorize art that is considered an inferior copy of an existing style. The term is also used more loosely in referring to any art that is pretentious or in bad taste, and also commercially produced items that are considered trite or crass.

Because the word was brought into use as a response to a large amount of art in the 19th century where the aesthetic of art work was confused with a sense of exaggerated sentimentality or , kitsch is most closely associated with art that is sentimental; however, it can be used to refer to any type of art that is deficient for similar reasons—whether it tries to appear sentimental, glamorous, theatrical, or creative, kitsch is said to be a gesture imitative of the superficial appearances of art. It is often said that kitsch relies on merely repeating convention and formula, lacking the sense of creativity and originality displayed in genuine art.

Though kitsch and kitschy may be terms used to criticize, the term is sometimes used as a compliment as well, with some finding kitschy artwork to be enjoyable for its “retro” value or unintentional, ironic humor or garishness. [my emphasis]

Well, Charles’ performance piece (those words don’t do it justice, I promise!) was certainly ‘enjoyable for it’s retro value and ironic humor’, no doubt, but it really was also surprisingly touching and screamingly funny (I laughed so hard that tears were pouring down my face) and smart at the same time. Charles is a true chronicler of what he calls ‘Americana’: the cultural mores of the American 1950′s and 1960′s. In fact, he has a book by that name: God Bless Americana.

If you’re a fan of retro (which I am!!!!), check out his great website CharlesPhoenix.com and don’t forget to sign up for his “Slide of the Week“, where he sends out one of his retro postcards (plus commentary) every week via email.

Also, Charles will be presenting his slide show several more times during December at the Egyptian, it’s well worth the trip to Hollywood!

Charles Phoenix Retro Holiday Slideshow

Here are a couple of video treats for you! Charles showing us how to make the famous ‘Astro Weenie Christmas Tree’—wow!

I’m sorry, I am experiencing technical difficulties, so please come see the video in my ‘Christmas Hacks’ post on my other blog, It’s Not About Your Stuff. (photo courtesy of sheer incompetence)

And here, dear new readers, is the first ever of my fabulous hand-crafted cellphone videos! This one is called

A night in Hollywood

(still in the working stages. You have to have the free and friendly Quicktime Player installed on your computer, and I didn’t realize that if I held the camera sideways, I wouldn’t be able to flip it like a photo, so forgive me!)

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Ok. It is now 8:00 AM (PST). Indeed it is Super Tuesday. That’s right. C’mon Angelenos come on out and vote and let your voice be heard. There are plenty of state propositions to vote on as well as voting to narrow down which Presidential candidate you want on your parties ticket in the November General elections. The voting booths will remain open until 8:00 PM tonight.

So how are you going to vote? Who are going to vote for? Do you know about any of the current presidential candidates and what they stand for? Do you know about any of the propositions and measures? So get out and research. Than go to your designated polling place and vote.

You may also find out which Presidential Candidates were certified to be on the current 2008 California Primaries at the California Gov page for elections.

You may find a list of the current propositons at California’s Voter Guide. There are 7 Propositions which are 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96 and 97.

Proposition 91: Transportation Funds

Proposition 92: Funding, Governance, Fees For Community Colleges

Proposition 93: Term Limits For Legislators In Office

Proposition 94 – Proposition 97: Amendment To Indian Gaming Compact
Proposition S (Los Angeles)

If you need to find out where your polling place is to vote in Los Angeles, you may visit LA Vote.
Or call the following phone numbers to find out. (800) 815-2666 (Local Callers Only) or (562) 466-1310

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The La Marathon 5k Run / Walk is scheduled for Sunday, March 2th 2008. at Gil Lindsay Plaza, Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 S. Figueroa, Los Angeles, CA 90015

A full morning of fitness and family fun will begin at 6:30am with Adai Lamar, 102.3 “Radio Free” KJLH “Adai and the Home Team” morning show anchor. Adai Lamar will guide participants through the morning’s activities. Musical entertainment by 50’s-present day cover band, the Grizwalds, will follow. A warm up, led by certified yoga instructor, Crunch trainer and fitness guru, Sahara Ali, featuring a hoola-hoop workout will get the runners ready.

Many 5k participants also participate in the Acura L.A. Bike Tour.

START TIMES & LOCATIONS

Acura L.A. Marathon Bike Tour – 6:00am – Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

Emerald Nuts 5K Run/Walk – 7:30am – Staples Center/L.A. Convention Center

L.A. Marathon Hand Crank Wheelchairs – 7:45am – Universal Studios Hollywood

Wheelchair Race – 7:50amThe Challenge – TBDProfessional Men/Pack – 8:15 am

MARATHON REGISTRATION DEADLINES & FEES
• $100 from December 1st until February 25th at Midnight
• $115 at the Quality of Life Expo, Friday, February 29 & Saturday, March 1

QUALITY OF LIFE EXPO

The latest in running, cycling, health & fitness, travel, lifestyle improvement is featured at the LA Marathon Quality of Life Expo. Exhibitor booths feature sports running shoes to apparel. 2008 marks the 23rd year of the Quality of Life Expo. Over 80,000 people attend the LA Marathon Quality of Life Expo each year.

Los Angeles Convention Center
West Hall
1201 S. Figueroa
Los Angeles, CA 90015

Friday, March 2, 2007 9am-8pm
Saturday, March 3, 2007 9am-5pm**

The Expo is free but the Convention Center does charge $12 for parking. The Marathon derives no revenue from the parking fees.

Registrations for the 5K Run/Walk are accepted online (www.lamarathon.com) or via paper applications through February 15, 2008. Late registration for the 5K takes place at the Quality of Life Expo, Friday and Saturday February 29 and March 1, 2008 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, Kentia Hall and the morning of the event in front of the Los Angeles Convention Center. Registration on raceday, Sunday, March 2th opens at 6:00am.

Contact Information: (La Marathon 5k Run / Walk)
Phone: (310) 444-5544
Fax: (310) 473-8105
Address: 11110 W. Ohio Ave, Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90025
Website: www.lamarathon.com
Email: raceinfo@lamarathon.com

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3. Guo Nian – Happy Lunar New Year!! Year of the Rat.

Captain Morgan(R) Original Spiced Rum has announced the second summer of the “Ultimate Pose Off” campaign to find the best adaptation of the “Captain’s Pose” depicted on the label of the Captain Morgan bottle. Contestants will face off against each other in more than 1,200 “Pose Off” contests hosted by Captain Morgan and his Morganettes. The in-bar events will help find the “Ultimate Captain Morgan Poser” who will win a grand-prize trip to Hugh Hefner’s Halloween party at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles.

Consumers 21 and older who submit their own “Pose Off” photo on www.CaptainMorgan.com between May 26, 2008 and September 3, 2008 are also eligible to win. All entries will be judged on originality, creativity, technical merit and overall “awesomeness”.

Upload your pose at www.CaptainMorgan.com and you might be partying at the Playboy Mansion this Halloween!

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InvisibleLA is pleased to introduce our new blogger from Los Angeles, Linda Tong.

InvisibleLA will be providing more frequent posting including Local cafe reviews (contact us for more information) and Live content – in regards to Los Angeles. Here are a few topic ideas you may want us to let you know about. Like the writers guild strike…..Hot spots for travel…Things to do free in LA. Tourist spots with pictures like Graumans Chinese theater. Or Vine and Sunset with the stars with the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Venice Beach – Santa Monica Beach, Pinks, Tommys Burgers. Pictures of outside the studios like Paramont(LA) and Sony(Culver City) and CBS studios on 3rd and Fairfax. A pic of the Hollywood sign(can be seen from in front of my house) to a pic of the Pantages theater.

Ok, Linda is just on her way out the door to Farmers Market behind CBS Studios. Let her see what she can pull up. She knows about 3 restaurants at Farmers Market. Farmers Market is a tourist attraction for its history(has been around since late 1920′s). Its behind CBS studios and right across the street from the Screen Writers Guild/Union where the strikes has been taking place. And the movie the “Black Dahlia” was about a murder that took place across the street in the 40′s.

So give her about 24 hours and let her pull something up for you.

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Guo Nian! which means to Celebrate The New Year in Chinese. Chuc Mung Nam Moi! means Happy New Years in Vietnamese

It is 2008 and the year of the rat. And the world is gearing up for this wonderful celebration of life and family. All the way from Los Angeles, to China, Vietnam, Korea, San Fransico. and to New York City.

Lately we have been going to the celebrations in Los Angeles due to travel and convience because of where we live. Chinatown businesses in Los Angeles pretty much closes down 1 – 3 days prior to the celebration to adhere to some of the New Years traditions. So roughly from Thursday and Friday of February 7th to the 8th many of the business will be closed. And the celebrations pick up on the morning of February 9th.

Chinatown in Los Angeles has a parade on February 9th, 2008. Get your seat early. There will be huge crowds. At times exceeding over 100,000 people plus. Be sure when the dragons pass you during the parade that they pass directly in front of you. You will be more blessed with luck during the year. And for the children, be mindful, and respect your parents and other adults and wish them a happy and prosperous New Year. There are many red envelopes to be had. The children will find money in the envelopes. Usually one will find anywhere between a nickel up to no more than $4.00. You are considered real lucky if you receive an envelope with $8.00(for its homophone for “wealth”). Sometimes they will find chocolate coins in the envelopes as well.

Prior to the parade you may want to enjoy some of the traditional Chinese and Vietnamese styled restaurants with more of the authentic foods. Not really much of the American-Asian fusion food one would eat outside such enclaved cities. All are wonderful in taste and variety. I always enjoy the traditional bowl of Vietnamese soup called Pho’. One of the many pho’ restaurants I frequent is on Broadway by the name of Pho’ 79. Order the simpliest soup called Pho’ Tai. It is pretty much a steak and noodle soup dish. One may top the soup with bean sprout, basil, hoisen sauce, nuc mum(fish sauce) and a green chile or two.

You may want to do a walking tour of the many shops that have great deals on textiles, art, clothing, toys and food at reasonable prices. You may also be surprised of the many Asian and American galleries spotted throughout Chinatown. It is also rumored that a few Hollywood stars have bought lofts in the area as well. I hear that Quentin Tarantino may be one of them. You know the producer/director/writer of such films as Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, and From Dusk to Dawn.

If you are unsure what Chinese Zodiac(Horoscope) you fall under, you may find out your animal sign here. Your sign will come every 12 years. If you would like to know more about the legend of the 12 signs, you may read more about it at Chinese Zodiac Page.

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I am an avid reader of blogs— I have to be, as a blogger– but also, it’s my passion to find out what’s going on. It used to be I would read bullitin boards and the local free newspapers around where I lived or was visiting to find out what was happening, but now I can do it in my P.J.s. and I like that.

So, last week, when I got an update from one of the myriad of food blogs in L.A. (I wish I could remember which one) and they were talking about a new concept in dining that is sweeping the country; underground restaurants, I knew I was in!

There’s a lot of snobbery and dissing of these roving eateries in the food review world, but I was curious and wanted to see what it was all about, to judge for myself. So I called my friend Anne Block, who is a fabulous tourguide in L.A. and beyond, and owner of Take My Mother Please* custom tours (and who by the way, will be one of my regular guest bloggers on this site) and said, “let’s go!”. She was in, too. She’s like that.

I didn’t know where to start looking, but as it turns out, The Ghetto Gourmet, normally based out of San Francisco, was holding an event every night this week in Los Angeles. We signed up right away at the reasonable cost of $42.00 and made our battle plan for the evening.

What is an underground restaurant? It’s a roving dining experience where chefs, waiters and entertainers come together in different people’s homes and offer a prix fixe [the fancy way of saying fixed price] dinner to hungry and adventurous guests. Often the menu is posted on the internet or in a confirmation email (if you are lucky enough to be privy to the super-secret lists I keep hearing about). They operate in a quasi-legal atmosphere and have been compared to speakeasys of the Prohibition Era and the early verison of raves.

 Here’s what I found when googling around:

Bruce Frieseke, head chef at Manzanita [an underground restaurant in Silicon Valley in California], believes the appeal of underground restaurants comes largely from diners’ shifting attitudes toward the entire restaurant scene. “I think this is part of a trend,” he says, “even in traditional restaurants, to make the dining experience more homey.”

This change toward wanting a dining experience to be more comforting and less highly formalized is a welcome one, according to many restaurateurs. Taking a restaurant out of the traditional context and putting it–quite literally–in a homier setting allows people to relax. Providing this type of low-key atmosphere is much easier when running a restaurant out of a basement or a garage, and these illegal dining spots are rapidly gaining cult status.

So…what was it like, I hear you wondering? It was SO MUCH FUN! Anne and I were among the first to arrive, as we wanted to make sure we got comfortable seats. Jeremy Townsend, the host of GG, was there to warmly greet us and, as we would later discover, to memorize the name and occupation of every single guest. (the night we were there, there were over 30 people). We chose a table in the stylish Silver Lake living room and opened our delicious wine.

The food was very good, local Chef Anita Bergman offered up a delicious 4 course meal, well described at our tablemate H.C.’s L.A. food blog here. But to me, the most fun part was the way Jeremy worked the crowd. His warm and engaging energy and personality made the night what it was.

Of course, sitting in a strange house with people you don’t know can be quite awkward, but the way it came down, it was as if we were at a party of good friends and so there was little or no social anxiety. (I am sure the 5 bottles of wine at our table helped!). By the dessert course, we were exchanging email addresses, phone numbers and promising to stay in touch. We all left with a sense that we had participated in something that was out of the ordinary.

The cool thing is, Jeremy not only tracks down local chefs, but also local entertainment wherever he hosts his soirees. The other night, we were regaled with the caffeinated song stylings of Mr. Jose Promis and the quite politically incorrect comedy of Ryan Stout. (I did laugh anyway, I admit). Was he funny? Ummmm, not really, but I am one of those people that figures it’s good to laugh when you can. It feels good.

I like what Jeremy does and I really appreciate where he comes from. He is most excited that he can bring crowds of people together all over the country (and soon the world!) and create a magical evening where everyone is involved and everyone goes home happy. That IS a good mission, Jeremy! Thank you, and I will be back again for sure.

see you on the freeway…

jessica

PS Tonight, Anne has invited me to see a funky slideshow offered up by Charles Phoenix at the Egyptian Theater in Hollywood. I can’t wait! He is known for his retro-snarky (in a loving way) look at America and Americana in the 50′s and 60′s and I am hoping to scoop and interview for you with him!

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