LA | Fairfax By Night

Language of Los Angeles

EF – Live The Language – Los Angeles from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.

The language of a city can certainly be more than the words we speak. How we interact with our environment and neighbors, and the cultural landmarks we frequent can also be considered to represent our “local tongue.” Here is a great video in a series called Live The Language highlighting the Language of Los Angeles. [LAImYours]

Golden Road Brewing, Los Angeles Beer

In the past two decades, there has been a beer renaissance in the USA. All over the country, craft breweries have started from the ground up to provide their various regions better and fresher beer than the likes of national breweries like Coors, Miller and Budweiser. On the west coast, we grow from our own soil arguably the best beer making ingredients in the world (hops and barley), allowing for a plethora of world class craft breweries to thrive and continue to pop up. In California, North County San Diego and the Bay Area have always been the large craft brewery hubs in the state, with Los Angeles suprisingly being a dead spot for beer makers. But not any longer because in the last 5 years there has been sudden flurry of craft breweries popping up in the greater Los Angeles area such as The Bruery, Craftsmen, Ladyface and Eagle Rock Brewery, with the latest addition to the club being Golden Road Brewing located right in Los Angeles proper just north of Downtown. Now, when you have a craving some fresh local beer you can stop in to get growler filled, buy some of their new 16 oz cans at local bottle shops or stay around at their gastropub on site. People always ask me “what is the best beer?”, and my usual answer is “whatever is local and fresh.” Support your local brewery, and head down to Golden Road today.

Lenin Sculpture at Ace Museum on La Brea Ave

The Southeast corner of La Brea Ave and 4th St in Miracle Mile Los Angeles has long been the home to a large open concrete building reminiscent of a parking structure. Though in recent years, it has become the Ace Museum, a new annex of the Ace Gallery which has its home right around the corner on Wilshire Blvd. Literally going up over night late on Saturday, a new sculpture was added to the open area right on the corner, finally bringing some attention to this otherwise disregarded building. A work of the Gao Brothers from China, the Lenin Sculpture is another piece in their progression of provocative art like the infamous Headless Mao. The artists have included several elements that show this controversial figure in a new light for the world of art. With a vivid chrome finish, the metal sculpture is constructed from horizontal sections that were purposefully staggered to make up this very thought provoking likeness of ruthless Russian dictator Vladimir Lenin. As such a well know person, the artists’ decision to give his face a chrome finish takes the focus away from Lenin, and to the sculpture’s context by allowing the reflections to highlight the immediate surroundings instead of Lenin in an appropriately demeaning fashion. The staggered sections represent his broken and destructive legacy that brought so much turmoil to Russia. Atop is a very playful inclusion of baby holding a balance stick on top of Lenin’s protruding head, as if walking a tight rope of his disastrous and risky Marxist ideals. Come on down to Miracle Mile and take a look for yourself, in this urban context it is quite a sight to see.

Short Order at the Farmers Market Los Angeles

If you have ever wandered around the farmers market and noticed Nancy Silverton’s personal ground beef blend for sale at the butcher by the donut stand, it would be no surprise that this renowned Los Angeles chef has a fondness for burgers. Founder of La Brea Bakery and Mozza, Nancy’s newest endeavour is burger joint Short Order in the original Farmers Market, adding another contender in LA’s burgeoning gourmet burger scene. In addition to the grass fed ground beef burger, the menu also boasts pork and lamb burgers, and a variety of melts. Click above to check out the menu, but I advise against doing that on an empty stomach.

Pacific Electric Railway Historical Society

Did you know that Los Angeles used to have the largest street car system in the world? Yes, you read that correctly. Los Angeles, known for its traffic, urban sprawl and automotive dominated transportation, was home to an expansive and well used public transportation system, the Pacific Electric railway. Reaching as far out as San Bernardino and Long Beach, these streetcars were an efficient and viable mode of transportation for Angelenos travelling within the city and all over Southern California. Today their history is documented and preserved by the Pacific Electric Railway Historical Society, who has cataloged a fascinating collection old photographs of the streetcars. Of late, their are plans to bring the streetcars back to Downtown Los Angeles, you can see the plans HERE.

Portraits of Real Angelenos

A Full Spectrum in Monochrome from I Am Los Angeles on Vimeo.

Created by Dutch filmmaker Joris Debeij living in Los Angeles, “I Am Los Angeles: Portraits of Real Angelenos” is a collection of videos showcasing outstanding citizens that make our fine city so unique. Of the local artists, musicians and athletes that are highlighted, my favorite is the story and works of Eastside photographer Gregory Bojorquez, who photographs the people and cityscapes in the oldest part of Los Angeles, the Eastside. With the stated goal of documenting the “real city of Los Angeles,” I am extremely impressed by how an outsider was able to so accurately capture our city in a way a native Angeleno would. No surprise here, but the Dutch continue to cement their role as the greatest artists/designers on the planet. [LosAngelesI'mYours]

Bill Murrary Exhibit, Please Post Bills

Bill Murray’s status as living legend has been embraced by the design community to the point where his characters and humor have inspired a number of art pieces. Being fans of the venerable actor, Gallery 1988 has compiled many of these works into an exhibit called “Please Post Bills” at their space on Melrose opening tonight. From Ghostbusters to Groundhog Day to Life Aquatic, Bill’s unforgettable roles and unique style are masterfully showcased in the works. Click above for more info on the exhibit, and check out this gallery and this gallery for more images. [LAist]

Oldfield’s Liquor Room

Nestled into the space once housed by Saints and Sinners, Oldfield’s Liquor Room is bringing back the libations and style of the early 1900′s to Culver City. With handsome white tiled walls and rustic wood furnishings, this establishment evokes that timeless historical look that has become so popular of late. Additionally, the cocktails being concocted behind the bar are some of the finest LA made by some of the best mixologists in the city, using unorthodox ingredients and innovative methods. Get down there soon to see how Culver City adds it’s unique flavor to the diverse fabric of neighborhoods that make up Los Angeles. Photo courtesy of Caroline On Crack.

Ikemen Ramen

To the general population, the realm of authentic Japanese ramen is one that is generally unknown and improperly associated with the “top ramen” you buy at the market. Well, they couldn’t be farther from the truth. Ramen is a very meticulous and esteemed culinary art from Japan with a venerable history a passionate ramen chefs crafting the most delicious broth, noodles and accoutrements the food world has ever seen. Now gaining a loyal epicurean following here in California, many of the great ramen shops in Little Tokyo, Sawtelle and Gardena have lines out the door waiting to imbibe in these chef’s delicious creations. Considered one of the best in Los Angeles, chef Sean Nakamura previously of Ramen California, has opened his newest ramen shop Ikemen Ramen in Hollywood, a portion of Los Angeles that up until now has been absent of a legitimate ramen shop. A very intimate space with humble raw decor, Ikemen Ramen offers both traditional servings of ramen and Nakamura’s newest creation the ramen dip, seperating the three essential parts of the ramen, the broth, noodles and pork into very satisfying dish.

A Northern Californian’s Guide to Los Angeles

I will preface this with the fact that I was born, raised and currently live in Los Angeles, but spent a lot of my childhood visiting big cities like New York, San Francisco and Paris. So, I am accustomed to suburbs, beach towns and the urban metropolis. I love Los Angeles and I love San Francisco (except for the Giants). However, I meet way too many people from Northern California that dislike Los Angeles for shallow unfounded reasons, which I can only presume to be a product of their lack of exploring the city enough to discover it’s real character, and understand what it really is about. Above is a link to an article on a new Los Angeles centric arts and culture blog “Los Angeles I’m Yours” written by a NorCal ex-patriot giving the exact same argument I have been stating for the last few years.

Faces of Los Angeles

Old photographs of cities are absolutely fascinating to me, especially when they are of a context I’m familiar with, like Los Angeles. Here we have a shot of Downtown Los Angeles in 1927 looking south on Broadway and the intersection of 8th St. Considering what Broadway is like nowadays, this street scene is an extraordinary sight to see with all the people bustling around, shops, restaurants and our once fantastic street car system. For more photos, click above to be linked to USC’s digital library of the collection “Faces Of LA.”

Mr. Brainwash

In Los Angeles, street artists utilize all parts of our built environment as a canvas for their works. One building in particular near the corner of Santa Monica Blvd and La Brea Ave has been a prime location for street artists to put up their creations, whether they be posters, paintings or a combination of the two. This is one recently done by Mr. Brainwash, a very dynamic take on the classic Maxell Audio advertisement incorporating pop art and street art motifs.