Century City, LA - 1969

Vintage Photo Friday....Century City, Los Angeles...the early years!

Ellen, in the Century City Fountain on Avenue of the Stars,

Century City Apartments on Olympic Blvd. in background, 1969

I came across a few photos that I took, along with my good friend, Barbara, in Century City in 1969. They were what we called "art" shots. Century City was a relatively new place, built on the former backlot of 20th Century-Fox Studios. There were sculptural buildings, exotic fountains and lots of concrete!

New Construction, Century City, 1969, near Santa Monica Blvd.
Barbara, Century City, 1969
Century Plaza Hotel in Background

Ellen, Century City, 1969Another fountain, Century City, Avenue of the Stars, 1969

Barbara, on the low-slung, curved roof of the Century House Restaurant,

Century City, 1969

I've been looking for an architectural photo of the Century House. I can't find any record of it. It is heavily chronicled in the movie, "A Guide for the Married Man" in 1967. There are many scenes taken in and around the Beverly Hills and Century City area in this movie.

Calendar

Perfect Santa Monica Weather

Hopefully, our excellent weather will hold through the weekend! I love the clear, crisp coolness that L.A. is experiencing right now.

On Saturday afternoon, I'll be attending a "bonus" session with the Fairview Knitters group, 3:30 -5:30 at the Fairview Branch Library, Ocean Park & 21st St., Santa Monica. We serve snacks.

L.A. Conservancy has a few walking tours this weekend. The docents for these tours are really knowledgeable.

On Saturday night, Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers are playing at Cozy's Lounge in Sherman Oaks. Rod's band is a first-rate blues band with excellent musicians!

My favorite L.A. band, Los Lobos, are playing at Royce Hall, UCLA on Saturday afternoon. Not sure if there are still tickets, but this band never disappoints!

Esotouric is holding an interesting tour on Saturday called Eastside Babylon. They start the tour at Philippe's the French Dip downtown and go from there. Maybe I'll run into you somewhere this weekend!

Around Town

....a few photos, around the Los Angeles area....

Culver City

Beverly Hills

East Hollywood
West Los Angeles
Culver City

Downtown
Chinatown

Mid-City

Miracle Mile

West Adams

Sepulveda Blvd., WLA

There's a lot to see in this town!

More Memories

Back Row, L-R: Sari, Babette, Karen, Laraine, Teri, Ellen, Lynn, Liz, Janet
Front Row, L-R: Randi, Aggie, Rocky, Dianna

On Saturday I dropped by yet another high school mini-reunion. This was actually an ELEMENTARY school meet-up....almost. Most of us graduated from Hawthorne Elementary School in Beverly Hills. I was there during 7th and 8th grade.

Two of our classmates drove in from Palm Springs for the occasion. We met at ToscaNova Restaurant in Century City, which was very nostalgic for all of us. The Century City mall was built behind our high school during the time we were there. It was a fave hangout for everyone after school. We'd go to Joseph Magnin's, Judy's, The Broadway. It was just a neighborhood mall in the old days. Many of the ladies hadn't been to Century City in years and years. It has changed radically....some of us got a bit lost.

Having fun at ToscaNova Restaurant

Here's a bit of history, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Once a backlot of 20th Century Fox, which still has its headquarters just to the southwest, the Fox studio commissioned a master-plan development from Welton Becket Associates, which was unveiled at a major press event on the "western" backlot in 1957. In 1961, after Fox suffered a string of expensive flops, culminating in the box-office disaster Cleopatra, the film studio sold about 180 acres to developer William Zeckendorf and Aluminum Co. of America, also known as Alcoa. The new owners conceived Century City as a city within a city. In 1963, the first building, Century City Gateway West, was complete, followed the next year by Minoru Yamasaki's Century Plaza Hotel.

Century City, 1966

Now, I'm working on a Beverly Vista Elementary School mini-reunion. I attended BV from kindergarten through 6th grade. This seems to be a banner year for old-time get-togethers! Have you seen any childhood friends lately?

Rivera

On Saturday, Thane and Carol invited us, along with a few lucky others, to celebrate Carol's birthday at Rivera Restaurant, downtown L.A.

Laaa-deee-dah!!! Wow! This place is a stand-out! The decor is faboo, the drinks are intoxicating and the food is AMAZING!!! We had an 8pm reservation for our table of 8. We did have to wait almost 45 minutes to be seated. It seems that the party occupying our table was having just too much fun to be rushed. Oh well....we were starving, but when you're experiencing a place like Rivera, you really don't want to hurry!

Thane and Carol did most of the ordering. We had the most innovative food courses. See the slide show below and pass your cursor over each picture for a food description.

It was a lovely evening! Thank you to our most gracious hosts!

Underwater - Vintage Photo Friday

March 1952
Ventura Boulevard and Woodman Avenue, Sherman Oaks

Originally published in the Herald-Examiner

Yup! We're underwater here in Los Angeles. I just heard a shower of hail on the roof of our office building here in Santa Monica. It's been raining on and off for days! This is very unusual for Southern California. Yes, we need rain, but enough is enough already!
My husband grew up in the Sherman Oaks area of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. I found this photo in the USC Photo Archives. It's a wonderful collection. I could surf it for hours. Looks like we'll be surfing Olympic Blvd. home today. Bleah. I hope your roads look better than ours.

Cookie Day

Yes, I know that today is National Cheese Lover's Day, but all I can think about are COOKIES. It's pouring rain here in Los Angeles. It's cold, dark and the perfect time for baking! Oh, how I'd love to curl up at home with some ginger molasses cookies, a cup of hot tea and a cozy crochet project.

Before the holidays we had our first annual Cookie-Palooza at the office. There were tons of faboo cookie presentations. My particular faves were the chocolate chip (of course) and the ginger molasses cookies.

What's your favorite cookie recipe for a rainy day?

"Didn't it Rain"

Rainclouds in Santa Monica, 2:30 p.m., 1-19-10

One of my all-time fave gospel recordings is "Didn't it Rain" by Sister Rosetta Tharpe. That's all I could think about yesterday and today as I watched the rains come down in Los Angeles.

Mixed Media on Canvas, by Ellen Bloom

Check out this video of Sister Rosetta singing her hit...about half-way into the video, she finally starts the song! She could really belt out a song and PLAY that guitar!
Luckily, it didn't start raining hard until Monday. We had a nice weekend....a little shopping....a little housework....visiting with friends....art galleries.....crochet.
I found a couple of more vintage photos on the L.A. Public Library Photo Archives Site of rainy days in Los Angeles.

Downtown Los Angeles, 1960

Cars, stalled on Venice Blvd. and Greenfield Street, Mar Vista,
December 1940, Herald-Examiner

Right now, about 3 in the afternoon, the clouds have parted a bit before the next downpour in Los Angeles.

MLK Day in L.A.

His dream is still alive

Mural located at La Brea and San Vicente, Los Angeles. Images from Unurth Street Art.

Happy Birthday Natalie!

Today is Natalie's b-day. We celebrated last weekend, but TODAY is the day!!! Hope you have a wonderful, fun-filled day, Sweetie!

When the Rains Come

photo by Dean Musgrove for the Herald-Examiner, 1982

"Fans, photographers, and television cameramen have gathered in the rain

to watch movie stars as they walk into the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion

for the 54th Academy Awards ceremony held on March 29, 1982"

Los Angeles is not a rainy city. When the rains come, we are paralyzed. We seldom get a dowpour, so our roads have lots of oil build-up. People are just NOT used to driving on our slick roads. Accidents happen, power goes out and chaos ensues. Due to our recent forest fires, mudslides are imminent.

Hollywood Citizen News/Valley Times Collection, 1959.
"Rain maiden-- Miss Linda Cape, North Hollywood,
checks for more rain after slight sprinkle dampened top of her convertible.
Weather defied weather men's predictions and dumped scattered splatters of rain on Valley."

Rain is predicted for this weekend. The Golden Globes Awards Ceremony is being held on Sunday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. This will be a good weekend to stock up on snacks, sit on the couch, knit and watch TV!

Vintage Photos culled from the Los Angeles Public Library Archives.

Destruction

Presidential Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti,

BEFORE the earthquake

Many bloggers are posting about the earthquake devastation in Haiti. There are many different ways to help with donations. Check this page for information.

Presidential Palace in Port-au-Prince, Haiti,

AFTER the earthquake

Here are some local, Los Angeles, donation options.