"an art deco masterpiece"

Since 1996, the Warner Grand Theater has been owned and operated by the City of Los Angeles' Department of Cultural Affairs. Grand Vision Foundation is the "Friends" group that engages the community to support the theater at every level. The Theatre is a rental house and events are produced by individual producers.

Considered "an art deco masterpiece on a neighborhood scale," the Warner Grand was part of the era of the Picture Palace, the magical decades of the 1920s and 1930s. As the popularity of the motion picture grew, the glamorous picture palace was conceived as a place of escape, a place where dreams came true. The Warner Brothers believed in this dream and built three lavish art deco picture palaces in Beverly Hills, Huntington Park and San Pedro. The Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro, the first sound-equipped theatre in the South Bay, opened to the public on January 20, 1931, with a star-studded gala premier. Jack Warner christened it "The Castle of Your Dreams," created by its chief architect B. Marcus Priteca and designer A.T. Heinsbergen. Pritica later designed Hollywood's famous Pantages Theater and many others.

http://www.grandvision.org/warner-grand.asp

You're the top !!!

An estate has sold in the wealthy northern California community of Woodside for $117.5 million, making it one of the highest-priced residential sales ever in the U.S.

Woodside is known for its striking equestrian neighborhoods and billionaire Silicon Valley homeowners, among them Oracle Corp. chief Larry Ellison.

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-record-home-sale-20130128,0,3802279.story

"All the instruments--horns, cellos, xylophones, and many othere--are made from ice"

Every January, Terje Isungset invites jazz musicians from all over the world to his hometown of Geilo, Norway, to join in his unique music show:  the open-air Ice Music Festival.  All the instruments--horns, cellos, xylophones, and many othere--are made from ice that he carves from a small lake from the town.

http://www.myspace.com/terjeisungset/photos/46756192#{%22ImageId%22%3A46612610}

Unbuilt L.A.

Imagine the city that would exist today if the best proposals for remedying its ailments had been realized.

Firestone Boulevard office building

( B+U Architects )

Firestone Boulevard office building: B+U's 2009 plan for a Downey retail palladium would have featured ornately braided layers of semi-transparent fabric. 

 

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-unbuilt-la-20130118,0,4033313.photogallery 

 

ART INSTALLATION DOWNTOWN FORECASTS WEATHER in San Diego



In order to satisfy a Centre City Development Corporation requirement for public art in the Santa Fe Depot precinct, Bosa Development California, Inc decided to get crafty.

“Painting in the Sky” is a new Downtown art installation lighting up the top of the two buildings that make up Grande North and South tower condominiums, located at 1199 and 1205 Pacific Highway, respectively.
Spencer Finch, the Brooklyn, New York-based artist selected for the installation, chose to conceptualize a ‘modern day lighthouse’ to convey information about the following day’s weather.

He and his design team utilized the two lighthouses that existed on top of the Grande buildings to facilitate the concept, creating a “red sky” and a “blue sky” composition that would indicate bad or good weather, a play on the old saying, “Red sky at night, sailors delight; red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.”

http://sandiegodowntownnews.com/news-briefs-for-january/

Abigail Van Buren

1918--2013

Famous advice columnists and twin sisters Abigail Van Buren (at left) with Ann Landers.

American's New IMAGE !!!

American Airlines rolled out a new logo and look for its planes this morning.

The announcement, made in a video featuring CEO Tom Horton, heralds a new day for the airline.

There are two reasons for the rebranding. The first is all about timing.

The airline plans to take delivery of 60 new aircraft this year, and it will start flying the Boeing 777-300ER on January 31.

American says the 300ER will be its landmark plane.  The twin jet, which seats 310, is a real upgrade for the airline.

On top of that, American should emerge from bankruptcy soon, according to NYC Aviation. (It is also considering a merger with US Airways.)

With the new year, a new plane, and a better financial situation, now is a good time to unveil an updated look for a brand whose image has lost much of its luster in recent years.

The second reason for the livery change is practical: American is adding the Boeing Dreamliner (which has been grounded around the world due to safety concerns) and the Airbus A320 to its fleet.

Because both planes use composite materials, not aluminum, American's simple, polished metal look is no longer an option: The new aircraft have to be painted. To maintain its "silver bird" image, American has chosen silver mica paint.

The new logo is a simplified, abstract take on the airlines' eagle mascot, which has been updated several times since the first version was introduced in 1934.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/why-american-airlines-changed-its-logo-2013-1#ixzz2IP9kzclg

“Not of this world”

Adela Rogers St. Johns has been identified as a novelist and movie historian as early as 1930, Adela described Mabel Normand as “Not of this world” perhaps true in the poetic sense if not in a factual one. 

Adela’s sincere affection is clear whenever she wrote of her friend, Mabel Normand.  According to an article she wrote in Photoplay in August 1921, Adela first saw Mabel at Al Levy’s restaurant. Adela writes, her dining partner put down his fork, turned to her and told her in a hushed voice  that the ‘prettiest girl I ever saw in my life’ had just walked into the restaurant’, Adela turned and saw Mabel, a “round, youthful, exquisite thing. With enormous deep velvet brown eyes between ridiculous, exaggerate golden lashes, a skin like peach-bloom and a saucy, curling, red mouth.  All in white, with her glinting red-brown curls tucked under a big white hat.
http://looking-for-mabel.webs.com/adelaandmabel.htm 

Oscar Niemeyer (1907-2012)

Some people not only seem immortal that actually nearly are. The Brazilian modernist architect, Oscar

Niemeyer lived until he was 104 years old. News of his death seems to have ‘shocked’ many—meaning,

once you get to 100, you may as well live forever. The beauty is, of course, that in a way he will. Because that’s what architecture of his sort wanted to do: transcend time and history and in effect make its own time force field around it. 

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=11976254#editor/target=post;postID=5404741112258935248 

"new 120,000-square-foot contemporary art showcase in downtown LA"

Rendering of The Broad, the planned new LA museum for Eli Broad's art collection

Dubbed "The Broad" (as distinguished from the Broad Contemporary Art Museum at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art), Eli Broad's new 120,000-square-foot contemporary art showcase in downtown LA, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro for the mega-collector's 2,000-object art collection, will consist of "almost an acre of column-free gallery space, a lecture hall for up to 200 people, a ground floor multimedia gallery,...state-of-the-art archive, study and art storage space," according to the Broad Art Foundation's announcement.

The off-kilter rendering, above, that accompanied the announcement on the foundation's website appears to differ substantially from the image that illustrates Mike Boehm's advance report of the plans for the LA Times. In the newspaper's photo, the structure appears to be a series of  horizontal layers.

http://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/2011/01/the_broad_design_announced_for.html

"Audi demonstrated a car that can park itself in a garage after dropping you off"

Most of what’s on display at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show is the same as what was on display at last year’s Consumer Electronics Show. Phones, TV sets, accessories. Minus Microsoft, of course.
But here and there, some first-time technologies made their appearance. One big one: self-driving cars.
Google, of course, is at the forefront of this technology; it’s had a successful self-driving car experiment running for some time now. (Actually, it has 12 such cars now.) Google wasn’t at C.E.S.
A few others were, though. There’s something bubbling here.

Audi demonstrated a car that can park itself in a garage after dropping you off. (It was the garage of the Mandarin Oriental hotel, in this case.) And when you return, you can summon the car with a phone app; the car drives itself from its parking spot to you. That, however, is not so much a self-aware car as a self-aware garage; it requires that the garage itself be equipped with special laser guides. And the driving is very, very slow and controlled (as you would hope).

Audi is also working on a traffic-jam mode, in which you can take a nap, work or do some reading as the car handles the slow, patient, touch-and-go edging through crawling traffic.

Audi says it’s thinking long-term — years away — for these features to become real futures.
Lexus also held a news conference in which it showed a video of its advanced active safety research car. It’s more like Google’s project: a completely autonomous, self-driving car. Lexus says that the point is safety: that you must be behind the wheel at all times, and that years of lobbying, demonstrating and building trust lie ahead before these will be available to consumers.

Frankly, I think we’re on the right track. Few industries are as heavily regulated as automobiles, so I’m confident that these things will never see the light of day until their reliability has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Keep in mind that the competition for a self-driving car is a person-driven car — and that, these days, is something truly worth fearing.

http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/11/c-e-s-2013-a-genuinely-novel-gadget-the-self-driving-car/

"Crayola’s creative play in the digital landscape"

Griffin Technology, one of the world’s foremost creators of innovations for everyday life, and Crayola, whose products have inspired creative expression in children for more than 100 years, are excited to announce new ways for young artists to create digital masterpieces using cutting-edge mobile technology. 

“We take pride in developing new and exciting technology for young artists,” said Mark Rowan, President of Griffin Technology. “Crayola Light Marker allows children to create digital works of art in a totally new and colorful way that has never been done before.” 

“The new Crayola Light Marker is a wonderful example of Crayola’s creative play in the digital landscape,” said Warren Schorr, Head of Crayola Licensing. “We are very proud of our ongoing partnership with Griffin Technology which ensures growth and innovation in this ever evolving area.”

http://canadianonlinegamers.com/2013/01/draw-play-and-discover-with-griffin-and-crayolas-new-kid-friendly-accessories-and-apps-at-ces/

FROM NOTHING TO SOMETHING

Buffalo Bill's Casino located in Primm, Nevada at the border between Nevada and California. The top of Whiskey Pete's is at the bottom of the image with I-15 passing between the two casinos. The Desperado rollercoaster can be seen wrapping around the buildings of Buffalo Bill's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Buffalo_Bills_casino.jpg

"ol' 99 in North/Central California undulated and rerouted itself like a living serpent"

As if taking a cue from the study of Darwinism, California's Highway 99 has evolved as the technology of road-building and the autos that rode them advanced dramatically.  Indeed, no where along the whole length of 99's run down the west coast has the old highway changed its face and routings so dramatically as in California.  From the many routes through Shasta canyon to the evolution and eventual bypassing of the dreaded Ridge Route, ol' 99 in North/Central California undulated and rerouted itself like a living serpent.

Further south, 99 was one of the main highways carrying goods and services from the Valley to the insatiable megalopolis of L.A..  As L.A. grew and swallowed the surrounding countryside, 99 had to grow as well.

From its original alignment along 2 lane roads into downtown, 99 grew into one of the original multi-lane, clover-leaved freeways and provided the first glimpses into the coming world of the 'interstate' highway system which would cause it's ultimate demise.  

So let us take a look at the life-cycle of Highway 99 in California.  So many towns and establishments found new life and vigor as the new U.S. highway went through their townships, only to later wither and often times pass on completely as a newer alignment developed and became the 'preferred' route.  Therefore, there exist today a multitude of historic businesses that once served the 99 traveler, but now lie in the backwaters of California's roadways.

http://home.comcast.net/~bygonebyways/99PC-CA-Bakersfield-Ridge%20Route-NoPM.jpg 

"sink into a pleasant trance"

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — After a few hours, you sink into a pleasant trance. Time no longer matters. You stop checking your phone, if it hasn't already lost its charge. You're comfortable. Your mind settles into the little there is to do — think, maybe read a book or, of course, watch the stunning Brazilian forests and countryside pass by. Soon enough, you'll be at one of the country's deservedly famous tourist spots, by way of a few nice little towns no one has heard of.

Traveling through Europe by train is an elegant and relaxing alternative to flying. But traveling comfortably and relatively cheaply by bus through Brazil, a country twice the size and a bit more expensive than the European Union, is a well-kept secret.

These are not buses on which chickens compete for space with three humans on a seat made for two schoolchildren, and they aren't just for budget travelers. Air-conditioned and with plush seats that can recline almost completely, they are a calm alternative to the hustle and bustle of the country's expensive and messy airlines.

http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-brazilbus-20130113,1,3674466.story

ARIA SKY SUITES IN LAS VEGAS

Shut the door, and breathe. Leave the velocity of The Strip at the door as you step into your personal refuge, and take comfort knowing everything you need is within reach.

Private entrances throughout the property. Need a helicopter for a surprise marriage proposal? Just ask, and it’s done. Stay in any one of the AAA Five Diamond award-winning Sky Suites with up to 7,000 square feet of luxury, and indulge in amenities that range from Hermes bath essentials to an in-suite sauna. Enjoy the preferential treatment  shown guests who are looking to elevate their stay in Las Vegas.

http://www.arialasvegas.com/hotel/sky-suites

the greatest Church in the ancient Christian world

http://www.sights-and-culture.com/Turkey/Hagia-Sophia.html

532-537 emperor Justinian I erected the greatest Church in the ancient Christian world. The bold structure was a combination of Roman Basilica and domed Roman central building, the central element of which was a dome with a diameter of 101,7 ft (31 m) and a height of 160,7 ft. (49 m) after the example of Hadrian's Pantheon in Rome. Neither in Byzantine nor Osmane days this dimension ever was surpassed. After several seismic shocks however the dome imploded in 558. The dome we see today was consecrated in 562. The dome we see today is 23 ft (7 m) higher and was consecrated in 562.