I am so psyched and ready for this concert. Especially to hear from Aretha and her thoughts on the faux pa that Beyonce did at the Grammys. Beyonce and Tina Turner did a duet and Beyonce referred to Tina Turner as “The Queen”. Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. It now has sounds of some kittens hissing and lionesses roaring in this little tit for tat.

Can I say wow and wow again. OK, ok. So there are many diva’s that are in their own right. But there are only a handfull that actually hold such honorable titles and never to be passed off to other divas. Can I say that Aretha is truely the “Queen of Soul”.

Now if you are wondering if I am dissing Tina. I am soooooooo not. Her sounds are original, classy, soothing and classic. But would see Tina’s music more on the lines of classic rock than soul. So two seperate music genre’s and two different diva’s that hold their own. And never ever can be compared. EVER. Tina the “Diva”(BTW – your still hot looking in your 60’s) and Aretha the true “Queen”.

But the only reason I can go is that I found a place where I am pretty much paying for 2 tickets for 1. The tickets are going for $55 – $85. I was able to get the 2 tickets for about $65 through a program that I am with called Gold Star Events. Which provides discounted tickets to local concerts, plays, events, operas, ballets, comedy shows, sporting events. Even Vegas shows. You can find tix for such events in major cities such as Seattle, New York City, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Fransico, Boston, D.C and Las Vegas. I have used them for a few things already and love it. Many of the tickets I get are anywhere between 10% to 50% off regular ticketed price.

So off I go to get ready. Cause I soooo R – E – S – P – E – C – T ‘ya Aretha. All praises to thee

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.

Candidates dropping out like flys after some heavy losses in Florida. It is expected that Former New York City Mayor to drop out and not participate in tonights Republican debate. Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards has dropped out and will not particpate in Thursday nights Democratic debate. There are some political analysits are saying that quite possibly that Romney will win the Republican debate and I think it will be a toss up between Clinton and Obama for the Democratic debate.

From what I see, that the following candidates will participate in the Republican Debate will be:

Senator John McCain

Representative Ron Paul

Mitt Romney

Mike Huckabee

For the Democratic Debate:

Senator Hillary Clinton

Mike Gravel

Barack Obama

I know that many of the presidential candidates even have Myspace profiles. Anything to get their faces and agenda’s out to the younger votes. Something to the effect of what Rock The Vote did in the 1990’s which helped register over 2 million voters. Rock The Vote organization was organized in 1990 in Los Angeles. Another way to reach out to the public and the younger vote is to implent questions from voters who post them on Youtube. You may find the Rebulican Debate page as well as the page for the Democratic Debate page at YouTube.

The final outcome of who be the final two candidates to battle it out for the November 2008 Presidential elections will be decided at the Parties Conventions. The Democratic Convention will take place in Denver, Colorado from August 25- 28, 2008. The Republican Convention will take place in Saint Paul, Minnesota, September 1 -4, 2008.

The California Primaries will take place on Tuesday, February 5, 2008.

Barack Obama is holding a town meeting at Los Angeles Trade Tech meeting(LATT) on Thursday, January 31, 2008. Doors open at 8:00 AM in the morning and is by personal invite only. My first thought about the town meeting being at LATT was about an racial profilling incident that happened late last year(Fall – 2007) on campus. A LATT student caught the incident on his cell phone and taped it. LATT Racial Profiling. But I am sure that is not the main reason that Barack Obama is having a town meeting there other than to answer questions in a Los Angeles community area.

The issue at large about the beef that the processing company Hallmark Meat Co. and their distrubuter Westland had provided was that many of the cows were downed cattle. The downed cattle pose health risks or pose a higher risk of contamination of E. Coli, Salmonella or mad cow disease. The downed cows wallow in feces and their immune systems are low and or weak, hence picking up such diseases.

The USDA is investigating into the issue along with Senator Diane Feinstein of California. The USDA has suspended the operations of Westland and Hallmark until the federals have completed a full investigation. Jack In The Box, the fast food chain is also affected by the downed cows and has stopped taking orders from the companies.

“I have made it a point to come to the Los Angeles Mission at Christmas,” said Hewitt, who stars in the TV show “Ghost Whisperer.”

“There are so many hurting people on the streets of our city, but when I’m here I get to see the smiles of the children and the great food for everyone. I think they are getting real help from the staff and volunteers. I come to give something back, but invariably I get more blessing than I give,” she said.

The menu included rotisserie chicken, glazed ham, three-cheese macaroni, mixed vegetables, dinner rolls, cranberry relish and chocolate cake for dessert. Santa was on hand to greet the children and pass out gifts donated by area businesses and individuals. The mission expected to serve about 3,000 meals and give out more than 1,000 gifts to 600 children.

The Los Angeles Mission mission serves the homeless living on the streets of downtown’s Skid Row by providing shelter, food, clothing and professional medical and dental care. In addition, the Los Angeles Mission also offers long-term residential rehabilitation programs through its Urban Training Institute, including education, job training, transitional housing and counseling.

One may view the LAPL as an artistic archeticual building in its own right. The building has the style of ancient Egypt. In the upper levels of the library one may find many Egytian god statues as well. As well as large wall tapestries and art work on the ceilings that reminds me of the Sistine Chapel. There are roughly eight floors to the library. And each floor is equipped with computers that the general public and library members to use. There are weekly activities on Saturdays for the children as well. From movies to puppet shows to reading books to them.

Outside the library is a beautiful park with water fountains and plenty of space for people to lay in the grass or read on many of the park style benches. Or for the kids to run and play after a few hours in the library. There is even the Lamelle movie theater two blocks north of the library. So after a day at the library, one can catch a movie.

In addition, the LAPL has a special collection of 16,000 rare books. Some written in the 1500’s, but many were published in the 18th(1700’s) and 19th(1900’s) century. The library also has teamed up with the Getty Centerand has an exhibit that runs for a few months. They have roughly three to four in the Central Library’s Getty Gallery. The current exhibit is Julius Shulman, photographer, work. It runs until January 27, 2008. I would recommend to go see it before it closes. They have an extensive genealogical research section in the history department. As well as a lecture series where well known authors come and speak.

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.

Now, one may wonder if this is in Pasadena, what does this have to do with Los Angeles other than the close proximity. Well this year for the 2008 Rose Bowl the beloved Trojans of USC will be playing against University of Illinois. USC is located in downtown Los Angeles.

So of course I will have to say something other than GO TROJANS!!!!!!!!!!! Right? Ok maybe not so loud. I will try and be a little unbiased and be fair. Ok maybe, NOT. GO TROJANS!!!!!!. Besides my niece goes to the esteem University of Southern California. And my son goes to high school directly across the street from USC and has about two classes on the campus as well. So it can very hard not to a wee bit biased. Sorry. Besides how many times has USC Trojans appeared in the Rose Bowl in the 105 year history. 31 times. Yup. A whopping 31 times including this 2008 year. Out of the 30 appearances. USC has won 22 of the 30 appearances. So Illinois is going to really want the ring pretty bad and work real hard to get it. The action starts at 2:30 PM(PST).

But for those who are strictly Rose Parade fans you can either reserve bleachers at certain locations of the parade route. Or you can be one of thousands who camp out the night before for a spot in the front row(curb side seating of course). The parade starts around 8 am in the morning and roughly lasts two to two and half hours. The Rose Bowl theme this year is “Passport to the World’s Celebrations.” The length of the Rose Parade route is 5 1/2 miles.

Many people are being encouraged to take the Metro system to the game and or parade. One can get there either by bus and or the light rail system(Yellow line from Union Station). The Yellow runs roughly every 8 – 12 minutes. The traffic is crazy so I would highly recommend parking at Union Station for $6 and paying the all day fare for $5. Which is much easier on the wallet and less of a headache of remembering where your car is and paying high priced parking fees. And for those who have missed the Rose Parade, you can view the floats after and on January 2, 2008. You can get a direct service to where the floats are wherehoused. For more information on Metro transportaion for the Rose Parade/Bowl festives.

The French Crepe Company has a website where one can view the menu and the price range. Be sure to click the Farmers Market location. There are many crepes to try. But I like to order the Beef Stroganoff Crepe. I love the tender beef pieces and mushrooms in the cream sauce. To the side of the crepe is an arugla salad with a dijon salad dressing(they have other dressing as well to choose from). Each plate will run one between $8.00 and $10.00. The other plate I like to order is the L’Opera crepes. L’Opera consists of two scrambled eggs with swiss cheese, avocado, onions and tomatoes. L’Opera crepe also comes with a side order of the arugala salad. For the cold and breezy Los Angeles days, I recommend their Soupe A’l’oignon Gratinee. French Onion Soup – a toasted baguette slice is placed in the bottom of a clay pot. Than beef broth and caramelized onions is poured over the bread. Placed on top is a heaping mound of Swiss Gruyere is than placed under a broiler to melt. The soup is roughly about $6.00. I also like to order their sparkling french lemonade to go with most of my crepe orders.

El Cholo restaurant has been a fixture in the Los Angeles area since 1926. And the restaurant has been ran by the descendants of Alejandro Borquez and George Salisbury. The hours are generally around 11 AM – 10 PM. They do have vallet parking. And the busiest times of the year are in May around Cinco De Mayo(May 5th) and in September around the independence of Mexico from Spain(September 16th). El Cholo is widely known and famous for their margarita’s. Plan to spend between $10.00 – $20.00 per person,

I have been going to El Cholo restaurant for the last 12 years. Everytime has been a wonderful experience. I would recommend being seated in the patio area. My favorite dishes are the “Taste Of History”($12.25). It includes 1 taco, 1 enchilada, 1 tamale, 1 chile relleno with rice, beans and a salad. I usually order the Taste Of History when I really can’t decide on what I want. I never can finish the plate, so I take the remaining food home. The other plate I love to have is the Chile Colorado. Its chunks of beef in a spicy sauce, with the sides of rice, beans and cup of their fresh guacomole sauce and their homemade tortillas($10.75). You will also recieve free, fresh corn chips and salsa. And at the end of your mill will get sweet, savory prelaine candies.