Schwinn Search Success

After three years of searching, I have found the Schwinn Speedster 3 speed.  This one is allegedly from 1976 and given that it weighs a ton, it probably is.  It looks like the fenders are replaced, but the paint appears to be original.   I picked this up for $150!

Of course, the seat is not the original blue/white two tone kind, however I imagine I can find one sooner or later.   In fact, there are a couple for sale online right now, but not the right shade....

Mural Monday

Yes, I know, like Zuckerberg at the end of that movie, you have been hitting refresh all day, waiting for the mural for Mural Monday to arrive.  Well, wait no longer.  I have a very cool mural from DC, on the side of the Toy Theater.

On Vacation

Taking a vacation from my fabulous blog until Monday.  It is fun to write so thank you all the people who read it and make comments.  :)

Next Hike Saturday, August 4

The next hike is Saturday August 4.   It ends at a clamshack.  Come get some exercise, then erase it by eating clams and fries.  (They have other things too of course!)

The Watch That Can Never Be Fixed

This is my favorite watch.

That can never be fixed.

You are probably saying, "Gosh that picture is blurry!"  Well part of that is because it was taken with a point-and-shoot that does not handle close-ups well.

But part of it is because there is some moisture under this watch which makes it blurry. In real life it is not really this blurry at all, but just a little hazy.

I have taken this watch in to get fixed, but nobody will repair it, because it will break the warranty.

The only alternative is to send it to Timex.  (Yes, it is a Timex.  Hey, I like Timex watches!)

So I looked online and, yes, they will fix any Timex watch for free!

However....they say that they may fix your watch, or they may just REPLACE your watch, and if they do so, it may not be the same model.  AND....they will not send your old watch back!

Now I cannot risk sending in my old watch only to get back some OTHER imposter watch!  That would be like sending your kid to the doctor with the warning that they might just give you back some other kid "of similar value."

So the watch must forever remain cloudy.  It can barely even light up in its Indiglo glory anymore.  And no, they do not make this model any longer.

And that is the story of the watch that can never be fixed.

Mural Monday

We need more murals for Mural Monday!  Send some in!

Food Friday: Smashburger

Yes, I know it's Saturday, but this food was EATEN on Friday!  ;)


First there was Five Guys challenging In N Out, and now comes Smashburger. Smashburger gets its name because they "smash" the meat before, or perhaps while, they cook it, which is supposed to "sear in the juices."  Sounds like a good idea, but there were no Smashburgers in LA until last week.


The only Smashburger in LA so far is way out in Thousand Oaks, which means it will be 8000 degrees warmer than the Westside and as dry as the Sahara.  Which isn't necessarily bad for a change of pace, though it does mean when you park, you really make a point of looking for shade.


Smashburger is very popular, so even though it was only 10:45am, there was already a lengthy line.

Aside from smashing the burgers, one speciality here are the unusual toppings.  I guess each town gets their own burger, which is a neat idea.  The L.A. Burger is Crispy wonton, fried egg, cilantro, cucumber, lettuce, tomato and Japanese steakhouse ginger dressing on a black bean and white sesame bun.


(I got that from their website of course.)


I decided that sounded a little out there, so I opted for the Fresh Mex Burger, which was Fresh avocado, fresh cilantro and onions, pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream and spicy chipotle mayo on a telera roll served with a wedge of lime.


A fan of thick fries, I spotted their fries and they looked skinny, so I decided to skip them and try the chili.  This ended up being a very good decision.

Above is actually the "Classic" burger, which is the closest thing to an In N Out.  It comes with an In N Out like sauce, but ALSO ketchup, which is surprising.  As you can probably tell from the picture, the ingredients are very fresh.


Let's start with the chili on the left.   This chili gets an A+.  Very thick and a perfect degree of spice.  They put some jalapeños on top which are an outstanding and in my experience fairly original idea.  The chili is superb and really they should offer a larger size.  (The one above is $2.99, only size it comes in.)


Now onto the burger.  This is the Classic when you put it together.

I had a bite or two of this and it was tasty, fresh....reminded me of what you'd eat in your backyard off the grill.   There was nothing necessarily WRONG about it, but it lacked any kind of magic.  It was a little on the bland side I guess.   I suppose expectations were very high.


Now onto the Fresh Mex one that was mine, and the one I spoke of earlier.

I would say that on the menu, this sounded like a crazy Mexican-inspired masterpiece, but in reality, it was, like the "Classic," merely good.   Somehow the Mexican flavors were not strong enough to give it bite or distinction.  In other words, good and fresh, but bland.


One should probably mention the service: very friendly and customer-oriented, to the point where they ask you if "everything's OK" a little too frequently.  But they are new so they will probably get the hang of it.


Overall this is a solid spot, and if they were nearby, I'd say worth visiting.  The chili is a new necessity in my life so I will probably stop by any time I'm driving that way and get two of them, skipping the burger.  The burgers are excellent in terms of freshness, looks, and I'd say neatness (not too sloppy.)  But a little too bland to warrant a long drive or long line.

That Didn't Take Long

The first hummingbird arrived in less than 24 hours.  Unfortunately, despite my telling the hummingbirds that I only wanted to take their photograph, none would stay long enough for me to take a picture.

Rancho Park

It's not a rancho, and it's not a park.

Hummingbird Experiment

Let's see how long it takes hummingbirds to find this feeder full of delicious sugar water. Yes, it will be outside, otherwise that would not be fair to the hummingbirds.

Mural Monday

Here's a mural you may have seen on Santa Monica Blvd. in West LA.  I call it the Bubble Mural.

There are more murals if you click on Murals.  Send in some of your own!

Food Friday: Joe Peep's vs. Abbott's

Joe Peep's is one of those legendary spots that used to figure prominently in "Best Pizza of LA" discussions.  Lately, I don't hear it mentioned as often, but the place is still there. It's on Magnolia in the Valley, so a bit of a journey unless you happen to be in the Valley for some reason.

This is the front door that faces the street, but in reality, it serves as the back door, even with the dual OPEN signs you see above.  If you walk in this door, you will be in their kitchen.

This is the real front door, which is the back door.  Since we are in the Valley, you will have to imagine that it is 8000 degrees outside.  About 8000 anyway.

Joe Peep's is a quirky place, and one of the quirks is that they allow, and almost seem to encourage, graffiti to be written everywhere.  Now I personally cannot stand graffiti, but in this situation it seems somewhat fitting.  Here is all the graffiti as you walk in the door.

For whatever reason they do not want graffiti in certain spots.  However this request is generally ignored.

Here is the Coke can waiting for the slice of pizza.  While we wait, let's discuss the pizza.

The pizza at Joe Peep's is known for being very heavy.  It is easily the pizza with the most cheese and sauce out of any in L.A., at least of which I'm aware.  Some people find this unpleasant, but I consider it a bonus.

The pizza is so thick that it was calculated one pie has 5,689 calories.  The employees all wear t-shirts that say "5689" on them.  (Or something like that - it's in the 5000s.)

Oh, here is that Coke can, surrounded by sometimes scary graffiti.

Now here comes the pizza.  The real "rule" on sampling a pizza is that you should not get a slice, but an entire pie.  That way it is fresh and not reheated.  However I am breaking that rule here as well as at the next spot Abbot's.

How was the pizza?  Unchanged from my memory.  Meaning, super cheesy, tons of sauce, great flavor.  This pizza is a heavy duty piece of pizza.  It is probably not for everyone.  However in my book it gets an A.

Now let's move on to ABBOT'S in Venice.

Abbot's could not be more different than Joe Peep's.  Joe Peep's is a traditional type place that serves "normal" pizzas, such as mushroom, cheese, pepperoni, etc.

Abbot's has a BAGEL crust.  Why?  I have no idea.  It sounds like it would not be such a great concept, and some people dislike Abbot's for their bagel crusts, but I think they work.

The other unusual thing about Abbot's, at least when they started, was the crazy toppings.  Nowadays, it is not so unusual to have, say, BBQ chicken on a pizza, or pasta on a pizza, or a pizza with no tomato sauce (which is always a bit sad to me.)   Even by today's standards, their toppings are pretty out of the box.  (The pizza box, that is!....Sorry.....)

Abbot's is I suppose named after Abbot Kinney, the street where it is found.  Just being on Abbot Kinney makes you 35 percent cooler than you are, say, a few blocks north in Santa Monica.  As you eat your slice, you can watch the hipsters go by on bicycles, many of them Schwinns, perhaps one of them my stolen Schwinn, but let's stay focused.

Back to the pizza.  Now the first thing I do when I go into Abbot's is look to the LEFT of the display cases.  There, on some days, if you are lucky, will be.....the......

SALAD PIZZA!

What is the salad pizza you may ask?  It is, um, uh, salad dumped onto a pizza.  Like the bagel crust, it sounds like a bad idea.  But also like the bagel crust, it is actually a good idea.  A very good one.  There is a great dressing on the salad, feta cheese, avocado.  It is more filling than a regular slice.   And where else can you get a salad pizza anyway?  (Answer: nowhere.)

Luckily, today there is indeed a salad pizza!

Here is a slice.  You don't even have to wait.  Because it's a salad and not heated.

Of course, one slice of pizza would be enough.  But today we are going to get two.

After the obligatory salad slice, you should order a hot slice from the racks.

There are two racks inside cases.  The way I choose is I examine the pies.  I look for a pie that has no slices taken off it, or only one or two.  That indicates that it is probably newer.  I do not really care what toppings I'm ordering, just that it is a fresh pie.

Today the pie with no slices yet taken from it was, according to the slightly eccentric guy behind the counter trying way too hard to be cool (there is almost always someone behind the counter who is eccentric and trying way too hard to be cool - remember we are in Venice).......wait I lost track of the sentence.  The pizza today was GOAT CHEESE. Very nice.

For whatever reason, the guy said I would be getting TWO slices, one of them for free. OK, free lunch tomorrow.  Excellent.

Here is the goat cheese slice!

Sadly there was no tomato sauce on the goat cheese pizza.  A part of me thinks every slice of pizza (except of course the exempt salad pizza) should have tomato sauce on it, by law.  The other part of me says this goat cheese pizza was still good, and such a law would be a bad thing.

Now to add more debauchery to your meal, you can pick up this free dipping sauce.  The sauce is like a very spicy version of the In N Out sauce.  Dipping the bagel crust in this sauce is a very good idea.

Here are all the slices ready to be eaten.

So what is the verdict on Abbot's?  Abbot's has great pizza.  I have never, ever had a slice here that was not fantastic.  The toppings are fresh and creatively combined.  The crust is a good consistency.  The tomato sauce, if you have any, is tangy and delicious.

Downside is the price.  $80 per slice.  OK, not $80, but $4 or $5, which is a lot.

On the plus side, there are many napkins readily available.

So who wins the battle between Joe Peep's and Abbot's?   I would have to say that this is an apples and oranges contest.  (Both fruits, by the way, Abbot's should try on a pizza, but hasn't yet.)  I cannot say that one of these pies is superior to the other.  I do know that I could not eat Joe Peep's every day, though.  Way too heavy.  (Both the pie and myself after a few days eating there.)

So I think round one has to be declared a tie.

New Toy

After years of using freely provided (but out of date and prone-to-breakdown) laptops at work, I bought my first computer since the 1990s this week.

It was like moving from the Dark Ages to the future.  This is the MacBook Air that just came out in June.

I happened to look out the window today and, wait.....is that the UPS truck parked over there?  Is he going to drive forward a bit and come here?   Hmmm, he's looking around...

Wait, he's walking this way!    (Grabbed camera to document momentous occasion.)

Wow, I have the box right here!

Let's open it up!

Like those Russian dolls, there is a box inside the box.

Inside that box is another box.

Bad Apple!  Lots of useless plastic headed for a landfill for eternity!

Wow, it just starting working immediately!

From being in the box to being online took less than 10 minutes.  Awesome!

The machine is very very light, very very thin, and very very fast.  Once you use it, you will want to throw whatever computer you are currently using in the garbage.

It uses Lion.  For whatever reason, Apple names all the operating systems after cats. There was Tiger, Panther, Snow Leopard, and now Lion.  I have heard the next one will be called MOUNTAIN Lion.  See, I think that's a step back.  The LION is the king of the jungle.  There can be no greater cat than the Lion.

Perhaps they should just go in an entirely different direction and call the next one Tabby.

Anyway, when it gets dark, the keyboard lights up.  Looks even cooler in person.

Of course, in three years, it will join the plastic it came in in the local landfill.  But for now, it is cutting edge.

The Startling Statue

I have walked past this set of statues in Beverly Hills probably 100 times, and EVERY SINGLE time I round the corner and momentarily think that the people are real.

Usually I feel I am about to bump into the crouching guy and I actually say out loud, "WHOA!"

One time I even said "Excuse me" because I bumped the guy.

Last 70mm Festival

If you're a nerd like me you got your Academy of Motion Pictures brochure and you were delighted to see that there is a "Last 70mm Festival" happening.

First off, what is the Academy of Motion Pictures brochure?  Basically they run some great series in their theater on Wilshire Boulevard, the most amazing being when they showed every Oscar winning picture from year #1 (Wings in I believe 1927) all the way through the current year, which at the time was 2002's Chicago.  They show the movies in their impressive cushy theater, flanked by giant Oscar statues.  (Which I would show a picture of but you can't take pictures inside.)

They've done other series too, such as the second place finisher for Oscars, Film Noir festivals, silent movies...  Each movie costs $5, and they show rare shorts and special things before the movies.  Sometimes they even have the actors, directors, etc. from the movie there for a panel discussion.

The best part is the curator, Randy.  Randy puts together the programs, and he is very strict, admonishing the audience not to talk during the movies, not to leave early, and not to eat anything or drink anything.  You would think people would dislike his rules, but they receive applause every time.  I often wish Randy were at every movie house in L.A.

So what is the "last 70mm festival?"  Basically 70mm was this great widescreen format from the 60s and 70s.  Very few theaters are equipped to show them, or ever were.  For many years, there were 70mm festivals that movie buffs would flock to.

Today, though, everything is going digital.  So I imagine Randy's idea was, let's give one more go-round to the old 70mm prints before we leave them in the archive forever.

Of course the 70mm festival sold out immediately, but since I get the brochure I got two series passes to all the movies.

The first movie in the series was It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World.  

The line to get in is always huge, and there is crazy security because there are usually celebrities there.

This is the line stretching around the corner, 90 minutes before the movie was to start.

You've got to get there early or you will have a terrible seat.  Of course most of the good seats are roped off for VIPs anyway.

Speaking of VIPs, the emcee for the evening turned out to be Billy Crystal.   He was absolutely hilarious and a superb interviewer, especially handling some stars who were old enough to be a little confused.  Micky Rooney, Carl Reiner, Jonathan Winters, Stan Freeberg.... most of these folks had to be pushed out onto the stage in wheelchairs.   Crystal was so smooth and somehow got every member of the panel to have a few moments in the sun.

I would have a photo or video of this but anyone who dared shoot was tackled by security. Well, not tackled but politely asked to not film.

However there is an article in the Huffington Post about it with a photo or two:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jay-weston/it-was-a-mad-world-last-n_b_1660933.html

And here:  http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/photo/22006/it-s-a-mad-mad-world-cast-reunite-at-filmfest

As for the movie.....frankly it is not really very good, way too long, and is somewhat dated. But it looked excellent on the huge screen, had awesome Saul Bass credits, and of course since it was filmed outdoors in L.A., it was fun spotting things like the California Incline in Santa Monica, the old Long Beach roller coaster, Solstice Canyon in Malibu.... all the way they looked in 1962.

Luckily, Randy (you remember Randy is the guy who puts this all together) said that since the "Last 70mm Festival" was so popular, it probably would not REALLY be the last one.

Here is the official website for the festival:  http://www.oscars.org/events-exhibitions/events/2012/07/70mm.html