Los Angeles was incorporated as a city on April 4, 1850. Continue reading
los angeles
“Whose streets? Our streets!” was one of the chants repeated Saturday night by organizers of the Los Angeles edition of Clitoral Mass. The ride’s official start time was 5:00 pm from Watts Towers in South Los Angeles, and would take the women and women-identified cyclists throughout Los Angeles, traveling north through downtown Los Angeles, and east into Pasadena, Highland Park and Boyle Heights. Continue reading
The backbone, and infrastructure of cities is often disguised from those of us who live within them. Sometimes it’s infrastructure that the city or big business wants to hide from the public, or at least disguise. Other times, it is infrastructure or places that time has simply passed by. It might just be that simply the act of passing by something every day, we no longer notice it. Or because it’s always been there, we never question its presence. Continue reading
On April 10, 2012, 25 year old Sam Michel was found stabbed to death in his Los Angeles apartment. A year later, his murder remains unsolved and there are no leads. His family has just announced that they have doubled the reward from $50,000 to $100,000 in the hopes of bringing renewed awareness to the case. Continue reading
Another installment in our series on abandoned places in the world. Continue reading
Another installment in our series on abandoned places in the world. Continue reading
If you’ve spent a lot of time drinking, you know that you sometimes succumb to the craving for terrible food. (OMG guys, we HAVE to go through the Jack in the Box drive-thru and get funnel cakes!)
Every region has their own special variation on late-night drunk food. Sure, there are things that are pretty consistent (and terrible) across the country (have you ever been in a Denny’s at 3:00 am?) But there are also foods that are really indicative of a neighborhood. Continue reading
Bear with me, here. I’m going to need a little bit of sympathy and understanding from you, fellow Crasstalkers, because some of you might hate me for the next few things I’m going to say. Particularly those of you who live in places where it gets cold. I live in sunny Southern California and I freak out and need a jacket when it’s 60 degrees outside. I am a baby when it comes to weather. There are probably babies that are better equipped to deal with it, emotionally. I understand all of these things. I apologize. Continue reading
Way back in May of this year, Conan O’Brien featured a sketch on his TBS show highlighting a small alley in an industrial part of Van Nuys, California. The purpose of the sketch was to jokingly ask the city of Los Angeles and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to change the name of West Raymer Street to Conan O’Brien Blvd.
In the initial sketch, he showcases the surrounding area of the dead-end alley, which is located next to some railroad tracks. What we see is familiar to anyone with experience in industrial or less wealthy neighborhoods in many cities. There is abandoned furniture, graffiti and what looks like an abandoned vehicle. It’s neighborhood blight. Continue reading
Watch the first Kalbi Burger Challenge and listen to me read the rules.
On Sunday, July 24th, I was drafted to be the host of the first annual Kalbi Burger Challenge. Six competitors at my favorite Koreatown burger place were going to try to eat 4 Kalbi burgers in ten minutes for glory and the potential to be in a plaque on a wall. Since I was the Foursquare mayor of this fine establishment (seriously guys, I love food) I was asked to be the emcee and judge. Continue reading