Friday, June 27, 2014

Links I Like Lately

A few things I've seen on the Internets lately:

Monday, June 23, 2014

Musical Monday - October Concerts

October 2014 in LA was a really solid month for shows.

I was stoked for Disclosure and glad I made the decision to hit up Pomona, after the Hollywood show sold out. It was during the week but late enough that traffic wasn't bad. Plus Nathan was in town from Utah and we went together.

I started out in the front of the crowd, but all those young kids were smothering us with selfies and selfish space hogging, so we moved to the back, spread out, and danced our hearts out. So much fun.

The very next night I was at the Hollywood Bowl for a show I'd waited months for.


So excellent. I'd never seen Flea in action before, and man. He just doesn't stop. This was a great  night. 
James Holden opened, and that was solid. 




A day or two later, I went out dancing all night to some electronica. It ended up being a strange night, going out with an ex, meeting a Jewish guy on the dance floor who said we probably wouldn't work out since I'm Mormon, and having a former half-flame from Phx in town who decides to come out dancing at 3am too. Who then gets locked out of the house where he's staying and he and his friend end up crashing at my house. And one of them loses a phone in a cab at 5am, which we had to take because my car was at the ex-bf's in another part of town. How do I get myself into these messes? Anyway....

After being up all night, there was a music festival in Santa Barbara, so Marcello and I drove up to see The Moth and the Flame and catch a couple other bands. I had no idea how I stayed awake. 

A super California snack. Ha. That little tub of sorbet was tiny. 
We caught Haim on the main stage, and wow, that's a bunch of sassy sisters who can rock. I've really enjoyed their album - it's on constant rotation. 

TMTF got crammed into a tiny corner of a bar, and I don't know how they managed to deal with that, but they sounded good and people seemed into it. 

And then a few days after that, James Blake at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. A guy I'd wanted to see in a venue I'd longed to experience. It was a great evening. 

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Mom and Dad Visit LA

Mom and Dad had to go to Vegas for a few days last October, so they swung by LA for a couple days on their way home.

I made reservations at Ink for dinner on Thursday. I think Dad was a bit skeptical of the small plates style, but by the end he was full, and we were all raving about the smoked trout. And I still love the apple dessert with the burnt wood semifreddo. Then we drove up to the Observatory for some LA night views.

On Friday I decided we should go up to Santa Barbara and Solvang. I'd never been to Solvang, despite having close friends who grew up there, so I was overdue.  We drove into the Danish town and headed towards the vintage motorcycle museum. Dad bought a bike a few years ago, so I figured he'd enjoy this.

It was closed when we tried to open the door, but we noticed a sign that said we could call and someone would come open the door for us. All of the bikes are owned by one guy, and his former girlfriend manages the place now, so she opened it up and gave us a little tour. It was really great chatting with her. There's some cool stuff in here, and I'd recommend a visit.



We kept walking through the town and probably stopped at a handful of bakeries. Yum.






After a few hours in Solvang (without so much as an ebelskiver), we headed back south for some Santa Barbara time before the sun went down. First stop, the mission and rose gardens.




We drove out onto the pier and then had dinner at La Super Rica Taqueria, of course.

On Saturday we went to the Farmers Market at the Grove for lunch, then drove down to Chocovivo to see the owner, Patricia, who had been our neighbor 25 years ago in Oklahoma. I'd been into her store previously, but had to take my parents by while they were in town. We had a lovely time catching up with her. So many memories! And if you're reading this and you're anywhere near LA, you must go. The frozen hot chocolates in the summer are just divine!

Mom really just wanted to go to the beach while she was in town, so we made that happen. Hello, Santa Monica pier.



We had dinner at my favorite 800 Degrees, where Trevor was supposed to meet us, but ran late. We managed a few bites together at home, then he and I took off with Jenn and roommate for the Above & Beyond acoustic show at the Greek. Haleigh's boss has season tickets to the Greek and couldn't use these tickets, so they ended up in my hands.  Boy, was I glad about that. And with box seats and premium parking, that's the way to do it.


Taking an electronic trance/house vibe and translating that into orchestral acoustic arrangements - talk about different. I really enjoyed it.



While taking mom and dad to the airport, I dropped my phone. The dreaded shatter. Don't you worry, I got an upgrade at Christmas.

Monday, June 16, 2014

Musical Monday

Sharon dear, why did you cancel your SLC show next month? I'm sad I won't see you.

But your new record is lovely. I got hooked on the first two minutes of Afraid of Nothing and had to hit that on repeat for awhile, but when I finally made it through the rest of the album, I just felt good about it.

Have a listen via Spotify below.

 

Thursday, June 05, 2014

Stuff I Did in October.

I had some shabu shabu in Little Tokyo and hit the Standard downtown. I watched Wadjda, which was excellent. 

Pie at Brite Spot. Better hope they have the key lime - it's divine.

Bryan from college came into LA for a whirlwind 48 hour weekend. He's a big fan of the movie Clue, and there was a shadowcast performance at Nuart, right near my house. He flew in on Friday night from NYC and we grabbed some Vietnamese at Nong La, then headed over to the midnight show.


Since Bryan had never been to LA, I had to show him around a bit. Lunch near the Grove, where my drink matched my purse.

Then over to Hollywood to walk around.

Candy store?

Mulholland Drive.

Bryan's always posting on Facebook about his cooking adventures, and they always look delicious. He put together some veggie lasagna that was delicious.

On Sunday we hit up LACMA, which Bryan would later be excited to see in an episode of Modern Family.



Bryan flew away on Sunday night. Then Monday, my friends the Moth and the Flame played at School Night.

I tried out a landromat and loved it. So much easier to do all your laundry at once!

Wednesday, June 04, 2014

The Rest of September in LA

Ryan wanted to take Cameron and me out to lunch for our birthdays. He's the best. We had 800 Degrees, of course.


I missed this little face.

I went to Glow and was a little underwhelmed.







2023 Recap

Oh, hey there. It's been awhile. I disappeared for a bit. Everyone's doing their 2023 year in review today, and I figured I'd ju...

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