Los Angeles Thread #8: Strong and Prouty

serious question though

a friend of mine from London is a noted crime fiction writer with a multi-book deal, venerable old publisher, and all that

his agent wants him to come to Los Angeles and research a potential crime book set here. What milieu could he possibly consider that has not been covered by the generations of hallowed crime writers who have already produced pages of genre fiction re: the seedy underbelly of our city?

You can do your funny answers but also if you have any serious ideas, I'm all ears! I may hope to pass them on to him. I hope he does come, he is a good friend of mine.

I personally think he might set it in the contemporary LA art world, but that's only because there are some genuine folks who exist in that world I would happily see murdered. =D

She wants to be able to walk to a coffee shop. Can she do that in highland park?

She also wants to walk her adorable unbought as of yet dog around adorable streets.

So what are the good bars in l.a.? Here's some of the ones I've been to: cat and the fiddle, el Carmen, musso and franks, Polo lounge, chateau marmont, hms bounty. What are the classic, old-school places? How is Tam o'shanters?

I would love to live in such a building, where I could go down to the carpeted communal lounge and read by the fire.

― Aceveda (admrl), Monday, August 27, 2012 8:17 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I live in one of these but people are crazy

I am two blocks walk from Highland Park's finest coffee shop. There are a shitload of dogs in this neighborhood. And bars.

I don't know Tam O' Shanters. I'm sure I've said this before but I like Musso, Bounty, Taix, Colombo's for old school. I also like drinking at the Prince in K-town, maybe the weirdest bar in LA. It was an "English country" bar (lol) that is now Korean owned and has a piano player and bartenders who always seem to be on their first night on the job (but in a cute way). It is a bizarre fusion of neon-Korean and British hunting motifs.

xp

reallyyy? Well people are crazy everywhere

YOU GUYS, i just booked a room for sunday afternoon karaoke at max in little tokyo. sept. 2nd, 2pm-5pm, $5 per person per hour, a dollar more if you bring outside food/drink. i'm thinking a karaoke picnic might be fun, with cheese and crackers and two buck chuck.

http://www.maxkaraokestudio.com

so far we have ned + gf, me, zero of the signified, donna rouge, maybe cunga.

prince has incred korean fried chicken

xp I am in Tucson for 9TH wedding anniversary that weekend

also half the people you list don't even post on this thread! am I missing something

xp I am in Tucson for 9TH wedding anniversary that weekend

happy anniversary!

So I was in Taix the other day and the music was actually sort of interesting, improv stuff. Was that a one-off or have all the shitty bar bands stopped?

xp thanks! =)

i've only been to taix once and it was for a private party. the music was canned and unmemorable.

How dare you have a special event weekend for yourself selfishly, admrl. And congratulations. :-)

Maybe me! Not that that's any sort of incentive, but if FYFest doesn't happen, I'll be there.

Also most of us are record nerds too so it's ok to ask - have any of you been to Mount Analog on Figueroa yet? I bet Donna has been...

Anyway I held off on going because I can't really afford records right now but I went for an impromptu Calvin Johnson in-store and I was really quite impressed. Definitely the most interesting, clued-up and lovingly curated of all the new vinyl-centric stores that are opening up. Check it out, I'm not on commission, I swear!

tam o shanter sandwiches are A+

i have not been to mount analog. trying not to spend money on records right now. will investigate once the wallet's a little more full!

Karaoke sounds fun, but I won't be there till the 5th. I read that you are supposed to eat a special cc browns hot fudge sundae from tam o-shanters.

I think vik took me to the prince--I loved it. I like the looks of Los altos! There is a cute ex-Gloria Swanson property being advertised on Craigslist right now

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/apa/3214024841.html

Los Angeles just seems so impossibly romantic to me.

I got - True Story Of Abner Jay-Abner Jay, Pure Phase-Spiritualized (!), KA-Excepter new and Get Yer Ya Yas Out -Stones, Jammin With Edward, Almost Blue-Elvis Costello, Flat Earth - Thomas Dolby used. The used ones were all $2-4 and in great condition. It was great. They also had that Michael Chapman thing on Light In The Attic which I walked around with sweaty-palmed for about 20 mins until I talked myself into putting it down. It probably still has my sweat on it, but it was shrinkwrapped.

Oh and Calvin was like 2 hours late so I didn't hang around and went to see Killer Joe instead, which was good.

I took a couple of out of town ilxors to the prince
They dug it

I found a ping pong place a street away from me filled with incred and savage old korean ladies that I'm p sure I'm gonna join

they have "tusk" at max.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7123/7877890156_23c039cde3_o.jpg

I personally think he might set it in the contemporary LA art world, but that's only because there are some genuine folks who exist in that world I would happily see murdered. =D

do tell!

i have peeked outside of mount analog but not actually been in. i have been to la cuevita a coupla times in the past few weeks though.

highland park seems rad, i would consider living off the gold line there

last time i was at max i did "self control" and "it's all coming back to me now"

that gloria swanson property is super-close to my place!

last time i was at max i did "self control" and "it's all coming back to me now"

i have a whole list of things i wanna do. "baker street," "into the night," "wuthering heights," "born to die," tatu's "not gonna get us," scritti's "perfect way."

My sis is likely moving to l.a. to take a job working downtown. She is considering living (for ease of commute) in silver lake, Los Feliz, or downtown. Any suggestions for her? Part of her wants to live in a little house in silver lake, but another part of her wants to live in a loft downtown (so she can be close to work).

This really depends on where she falls along the hipster - bourgie spectrum. It sounds like she has the means to pick and choose from any of the better options. Here are my suggestions:

- Silverlake - this area is best for bourgie hipsters. Lots of bars, some good restaurants. Very pleasant
- Fairfax - best for young people in the industry or those with less concern about being a hipster (consciously or not). Lots of amazing restaurants
- Echo Park - close to Silverlake but cheaper and still with a slight edge
- Los Feliz - close to Silverlake but mellower and somewhat more upscale.
- Atwater, Mt Washington, Highland Park, Pasadena - These are mostly for married couples and families - lower middle class to upper middle class to straight up rich in certain parts.
- Downtown - is still a weird place. There are things to do, but it still doesn't seem like a neighborhood - just kind of random people. Some nice places, but noisy during the week and desolate on the weekends. I used to live there and enjoyed it but found it isolating (sometimes a good thing, sometimes not).
- Santa Monica, Venice - if you're into the beach.
- Beverly Hills, West Hollywood - these places are expensive but can be fun if you're not hipster at all.
- Culver City - is incredibly central, but is mainly for families.
- there's a whole medium density west side desert which has lots of apartments which is fine if you have a nice apartment, but is never really here nor there.

I'd say that the commute to downtown in a car is pretty easy from any of these places. except for the far west side and Santa Monica/Venice.

his agent wants him to come to Los Angeles and research a potential crime book set here. What milieu could he possibly consider that has not been covered by the generations of hallowed crime writers who have already produced pages of genre fiction re: the seedy underbelly of our city?

should do palms or any of those weird non-descript west la places
Nothing like an anonymous transient feeling to get you in the mood to kill

Spencer, you'll have to tell me what the good restaurants in Silver Lake are. I kind of like Cliff's Edge for brunch but other than that it seems like kind of a culinary wasteland.

should do palms or any of those weird non-descript west la places
Nothing like an anonymous transient feeling to get you in the mood to kill

Or maybe Stanton, if you want the OC equivalent.

xpost:

My tastes are perhaps not as refined as yours, and some of these may be Echo Park, but I've had good meals at:
Cafe Stella, Speranza, Alegria, Local, Aroma, Barbrix, Pho Cafe, Forage, Dusty's, Elf, Mohawk Bend. None of these are on the level of Mozza or whatever, but they're all alright.

i will second forage. i've only been to cafe stella for drinks

haha I'm honestly not that refined

Have any of you eaten at Don Tana's? It seems to come up a lot.

Adam, I think we're in a similar neck of the woods now?

Dan Tana's has been around forever (like 50 years) and is a small, classic Italian restaurant in West Hollywood.

xp we are? You keep moving and doing things!

Also, I have to admit to not having tried most of the restaurants you mentioned, so now they are on my list

I'm up Ave 64 a bit. We should have beers at the York!

I would love that, it's been too long!

Emailing you...

Food at Dan tanas not so great but I like to hang at the tiny bar, weird scene sometimes

Los Angeles just seems so impossibly romantic to me.

yes!!! the reality of LA was so different to my imagining of it. i've never spent more than a couple days at a time in the city, mostly eaten up by visiting friends/specific events, would love to have a week of just exploring. a friend of mine is in the running for an arts grant, and if she wins it i'll be spending a week in LA some time after the new year, helping her sew up a bunch of books and hopefully doing some actual exploring.

virginia plains, you might enjoy a.m. homes's book "los angeles: people, places and the castle on the hill".

^^ thank you -- I haven't heard of this book ... Will investigate.

Would any ilxors like to do some sort of food (or drink) fap with me and convince my sister why l.a. Is a good place to live? Will be in town sept 5-9.

ms. plain, i would be very interested in fapping, esp. if it's in the downtown/hollywood/silver lake area. vik said he would try to put something together.

reminder to the rest o' ye: karaoke this sunday!

Mount Analog in Highland Park is awesome, it's not some pitchfork-heavy Origami shit. you can tell the people who run it read boomkat's newsletters religiously. and the prices are just a bit lower than amoeba's i think. also probs of interest to some of you:

Mount Analog presents a night called NUIT NOIRE

Saturday September 29 in Los Angeles.

10pm

Andy Stott (Modern Love, UK)
Demdike Stare (Modern Love, UK)
Kangding Ray (Raster-Noton, Berlin)
Silent Servant (Downwards, Sandwell District, LA)
Vatican Shadow (Blackest Ever Black, Type, LA)
DJ sets by Nightchilde.

All artists appearing live on state of the art sound equipment.
Visuals provided by B-Music/Finders Keepers Records and Tom Fitzgerald.

*finds this of interest*

I'll b there

so hey did anyone else get caught in the crazy downpour/thunderstorm in pasadena yesterday?

ticket prices for that event are a little steep. i clicked "maybe" on the fb event page.

i heard it rained/thundered in studio city yesterday but i didn't notice anything.

so hey did anyone else get caught in the crazy downpour/thunderstorm in pasadena yesterday?

I caught it right at the 710/60 intersection. Very weird!

i was at huntington gardens while it happened. it was awesome