LA’s One and Only Panorama is Back – Catch it While you Can!

If you’ve never heard of, or experienced, panoramic paintings you’re not alone. While this unique art form was popular in the nineteenth century, few survive today. Fortunately for Angelenos, The Velaslavasay Panorama (VP), a local non-profit located in the West Adams Historic District, is dedicated to preserving this precursor of the motion picture, which immerses the viewer […]

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is Back!

Where can you celebrate books with the people who write them and a community of passionate readers? Why – at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books of course. Now in its 22nd year, the festival “has grown to become an essential part of the L.A. cultural scene, promoting literacy and expanding minds while having […]

Sing Your Own Song: An Opera Love Story – Feel the Joy

Sometimes the most compelling stories are the ones unfolding right in our own backyard. Such was the case for Burbank-based documentary filmmaker Anne Davis O’Neal. In 2010 she learned about a group of Los Angeles area opera singers who gathered weekly at Café 322 in Sierra Madre to share their love of the centuries old […]

17 Miles of Car-Free Open Streets in the 626

Want to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Gold Line Foothill Extension opening? Are you looking for an excuse to get outside and exercise this weekend? If the answer to either of those questions is “yes,” check out 626 Golden Streets. It’s your opportunity to walk, run, skate, bike, dance, play and socialize along 17 […]

Los Angeles Walks’ Fundraiser is Around the Corner

It’s increasingly common for Angelenos and visitors alike to walk the city for fun, exercise and transportation. An important proponent of this trend is an organization called Los Angeles Walks, which was founded in 1998 and is a project of Community Partners. Since its inception, “Los Angeles Walks has consistently worked to raise awareness about pedestrian […]

Halloween Horrors – The Scariest Los Angeles Deaths

With Halloween approaching, it seems fitting to highlight some of the more gruesome events that have taken place in the City of Angels. To help with this endeavor, I turned to James T. Bartlett, author of Gourmet Ghosts and recently-released Gourmet Ghosts 2. For both books Bartlett searched numerous Los Angeles archives, trawled local bars and hotels, and found unknown […]

Multi-Instrumentalist Mayra Vargas Breaks into the Los Angeles Music Scene with her First Andean Pop Single

Every so often I have the good fortune to connect with musicians who are part of the vibrant Los Angeles music scene. Just last week I published an interview with the talented Martin Lopez-Iu, in which he discussed his debut solo project Zanja Madre and premiered his music video, Mulholland’s Nightmare, on this blog.