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Featured Articles Los Angeles

Pink’s Hot Dogs

pinks.jpgHot dog stands rarely share clientele with the most exclusive restaurants in Los Angeles, but Pink’s Hot Dogs earn the business of even the most discerning patrons. Owned and operated by the Pink family since 1939, Pink’s Hot Dogs is considered a “locals” place that the whole city can claim.

What makes their hot dogs so special? It could be the special “family secret” chili-dog recipe, or inventive hot dog concoctions named after the celebrities that frequent their establishment, or the long line that gives you time to work your craving into a lather of lust for these one of a kind frankfurters.

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Los Angeles Things to Do

Muscle (Venice) Beach

muscle-beach.jpgJoggers, runners, walkers, swimmers and dogs all go to the beach to work out, but none exercise quite like the guys and gals at Muscle Beach. With their comic book bodies, weightlifters come to Venice to perfect their ripped abs, swollen pecs, tree trunk sized legs.

Muscle Beach is part of Venice, although the original location was a few miles north in Santa Monica. The beach side weight room has been home to many famous bodybuilders including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Joe Gold, who founded Gold’s Gym, and a long list of world bodybuilding champions.

Weightlifting at Muscle Beach used to be restricted to the feeble equipment built in 1952 and placed right on the sand by the parks and recreation district. Now that the beach has gotten some notoriety, however, it has undergone a massive renovation and now features bleachers for spectators, a massive arch displaying a barbell over the entrance, and padded weightlifting, tumbling and jump-rope areas.

The original muscle beach held tumbling and gymnastics performances and competitions and most have now been moved to the Venice location. Each year, a bodybuilding championship is held at Venice Beach with the winner appearing in Iron Man Magazine. The contest is open to anyone for the $75 entry fee and attracts some of the top bodybuilding talent in Los Angeles, which can stack up with most places around the world.

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Los Angeles Things to Do

Walt Disney Concert Hall

la-disney-hall.jpgThe most striking thing about Walt Disney Concert Hall is the architecture. The curving metal faces of the structure seem to peek around corners and stare down streets. You catch glimpses of the concert hall from odd angles through the buildings of the city and your view of the structure sticks in your mind. Light plays tricks, casts odd shadows and certain angles seem to gleam prominently while others are cast in shadows.

The concert hall is certainly a sight to behold.

It is also a fine place to catch a show or symphony concert. The Los Angeles Philharmonic plays concerts eight times a week, two concerts a day on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The LA Philharmonic is one of the top classical music organizations in the world and brings in some of the best guest talent to perform alongside it throughout the year.

The Walt Disney Concert Hall is a relatively new addition to the downtown area. A gift from the Disney family for a new concert hall in 1987 accumulated interest and generated other donors who put up the rest of the money for the concert hall. The county of Los Angeles provided the land and funded the construction of the parking garage. The building sits alongside the other performance halls in downtown, but was only completed in 2003. This is the LA Philharmonic’s 4th year in the building.

The hall is also used for other events. Concerts, TV show tapings like American Idol and the occasional charity event are held in the Disney Concert Hall.

Friday afternoon LA Philharmonic shows are the “casual Friday” shows where orchestra members and conductor Leonard Slatkin dress in casual clothes instead of the requisite tuxedo or formal wear as is the norm at symphony concerts.

Tickets to the LA Philharmonic or other events at the Walt Disney Concert Hall are available at the hall’s website. There are available payment plans and group discounts, as well as free shows every few months for special events.

Location

The Disney Concert Hall is located at 111 South Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012. Public parking at the hall is available underneath the structure and is accessible on Second Street, or across from the concert hall on Grand Avenue. Valet parking is available at the front of the building on Hope Street.

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Los Angeles

Malibu

malibu.jpgMalibu may have recently been threatened by the raging wildfires that ate up much of the southern California hillsides, but you’ll soon find that the city has retained the qualities that make it a desirable place to visit while touring through LA on your next vacation.

There is a quality to Malibu that makes it mysterious and appealing. Most people call it the beach, but there’s more than that. This is the home of Malibu Barbie, the Chevy Malibu, and the Go Karts of Malibu Grand Prix. This is the land of celebrities and movie stars. So much has been made of Malibu as a world class destination on so little evidence that most travelers feel the need to check it out for themselves to see what all the fuss is about.

It turns out that all the fuss is about the beach. Malibu is one endless stretch of sand next to the water and the beach has a different feel to it here than on the LA and Orange County beaches where the houses come right down to the water and the streets run right into the sand.

In Malibu you feel separated from the city on the beach. Instead of a grid of houses behind you, there are a few dozen mansions tucked neatly into the best viewpoints on the hills. Instead of a steady parade of people descending on the sand there are a few dozen surfers in the water (on most days), a few volleyball games going on and some families walking by near the water.

Granted, there is more to Malibu than the surf culture, although not a lot more. The most popular roadside business on the Pacific Coast Highway that runs through town is a surfboard rental palace and even the restaurants share parking lots with public beaches.

But enough about the beach. Malibu is also home to a great number of natural disasters. For such a desirable place to live, Malibu is awfully treacherous. The recent wildfires notwithstanding, there are mudslides whenever it rains for a few weeks in a row and houses go slip-sliding down the hill into the ocean. Luckily for the celebrities, entertainment moguls and TV producers who live in this 27 mile long narrow strip of ideal real-estate, most can afford to rebuild.

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Articles Los Angeles

The Laugh Factory

microphone_phone_music_264750_l.jpgIt’s no accident that the Laugh Factory is one of the only places that you can find household name comedians performing short 15 minute sets in between concert appearances or TV specials.

The Laugh Factory books the best talent and sells out almost every weekend night show. For travelers, the Laugh Factory is recommended because during any of the All-Star Comedy shows, you are almost sure to see someone you recognize or have heard before. If you only have one night to invest in seeing stand-up, the Laugh Factory is your best bet. It’s a bit more expensive than the other venues in town, but like everything in life, you get what you pay for (and then you have to buy two drinks).

Jamie Masada owns the Laugh Factory and runs the nightly shows on the Sunset Strip. The Laugh Factory opened in West Hollywood in 1979 and rumor has it that Richard Pryor was the first to perform on the stage. Rumor also has it that when Masada tried to pay Pryor for the performance, Pryor instead gave Masada a hundred dollar bill and said, “You’re going to need it.”

Now, the Laugh Factory runs shows every night of the week and two or three on the weekends. They also do a comic camp in the summer for kids and every Tuesday there is an open mic night and comedy showcase for new talent trying to earn a spot in the regular rotation.

Sign ups for the open mics start at 5:00 p.m. and the show starts at 6:30. Comedy for the open mics is limited to clean, “TV friendly” material and is regulated by a host.

The Laugh Factory is located at 8001 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90046. Parking is extremely tight around the Laugh Factory and the best option is to carpool and split the cost of the valet. Parking can be found in the neighborhood to the east, but the parking laws are extremely strict and cars do get towed. If you do park among the houses read the parking signs carefully.

Shows are 18 and over and the cover charge is generally $20. There is also a two drink minimum for every show. Drinks run between $6.50 and $8.

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Los Angeles

Newport Beach

lagunanewport.jpgNewport Beach is a city at the heart of Orange County with much more personality than the narrow focus of reality shows or teen soap operas have given it in the eyes of the rest of the world.

The main attraction in Newport Beach, as the name suggests, is the beach. The picturesque coast brings tourists in from around the city and the beach is one of the most popular with body boarders and surfers as well. The famous Wedge, a challenging set of waves that break right off the Balboa peninsula, attract surfers and athletes to play in the curling waves.

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Articles Los Angeles

Manhattan Beach

volleyball_beach_blue_268276_l.jpgThe city of Manhattan Beach is a beach community close to the downtown area of Los Angeles and LAX. Named for New York’s Manhattan island, the city is one of the most desirable places to live in the city and home to many notable residents. Athletes especially seem to gravitate toward Manhattan Beach. The point guards for several NBA teams have houses in Manhattan Beach, as well as Michael Olowokandi, the Boston Celtics center, Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan, soccer player Landon Donovan and baseball player Nomar Garciaparra.

Manhattan Beach began in the late 19th century when several ranches were purchased and combined into one mega-sized plot of land that is now the 10.2 square mile city.

Beach Sports

It is not terribly surprising that so many athletes would gravitate toward the city. The beach attracts athletes of all levels to roller blade or bike along the paved path that runs up and down the entire length of Los Angeles’ beaches as well as a large number of surfers, beach volleyball players and joggers who want to exercise on the sand itself.

Manhattan Beach is actually the de facto home of beach volleyball and the epicenter of the pro beach volleyball circuit. Although the sport was technically invented in nearby Santa Monica, the scene volleyball scene is nowhere better than Manhattan Beach. Numerous nets and courts are set up each day for public use and pick up games are easy to come by.

Pros describe the Beach volleyball tournament at Manhattan Beach as the best that the circuit has to offer and because many grew up playing on the sandy courts at Huntington and Manhattan Beach, they games are often the most competitive at this tournament. The national television audience and high prize money probably doesn’t hurt either.

Manhattan Beach can fill up on the weekends and parking can be hard to find. There are a few parking garages sprinkled throughout the city, but be sure to bring quarters to feed the meter and be sure to head back to your car promptly. Parking enforcement comes through swiftly and writes hefty tickets if they get to your car.

Real Estate

Money Magazine ranked Manhattan Beach the fourth most expensive city to live in in America in 2005 and Forbes ranked the Manhattan Beach ZIP code 90266 the 29th most expensive in the nation that same year. Houses typically sell for millions of dollars depending on the proximity to the beach and as sets of family size houses are torn down and replaced by beachfront mansions, the prices have continued to climb.

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Articles Los Angeles

Cheap Laughs at the Downtown Comedy Club

microphone_263427_l.jpg

The Downtown Comedy Club is Los Angeles’ newest stand-up venue, a start up trying to get laughs from scratch in an area that is on its way back to life. Although it can’t match the big name talent of other comedy clubs in Los Angeles, the club offers a night of stand-up comedy for significantly less than the $40 the other places demand.

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Articles Los Angeles

Walk of Fame

donald_duck_donald_233468_l.jpgThe Hollywood Walk of Fame stretches 3.5 miles around Hollywood Boulevard and Vine streets in downtown Hollywood and presents more than 2,000 names who have achieved fame and prominence in one of the five entertainment categories.

Created as part of a Hollywood “Face Lift” in 1958, the Hollywood Walk of fame is another way to walk the streets “seeing stars” in Hollywood. The Walk also connects the community with the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. People tromp up and down the street, literally staring at the ground and reading names as they go.

Nominations are due every May and the committee then meets to award stars to chosen every year in June in five categories. The categories are: film, television, the recording industry, broadcasting, and live theater. Recently, the selection committee has been accepting nominations for corporations and businesses on the Walk of Fame, so long as the company is active in Hollywood and at least 50 years old. Disneyland was the first recipient and now The Los Angeles Times and the KTLA TV station each has their own star.

Walk of Fame Trivia

The Walk of fame ends with stars for The Beatles and Elvis Presley.

There are two stars for Harrison Ford, for two different actors of the same name.

Gene Autry is the only person to have a star awarded to him in each of the five categories.

The Walk of Fame became a cultural landmark in Hollywood in 1978.

The first star on the walk was awarded on February 9, 1960, to Joanne Woodward

The best way to see the Walk of Fame is to drive in to Hollywood, park and walk. The best parking is available at Hollywood and Highland, in the giant underground parking structure. From there, the walk of fame is on Hollywood Blvd and extends east toward Vine St. The Walk of Fame is even more accessible by public transportation. The Red Line, which runs between North Hollywood and Downtown, stops at Hollywood and Vine, the heart of the Walk of Fame.

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