Seen Around Town

I'm constantly snapping photos when I walk and drive around town. Here are a few interesting ones:

Along the Santa Monica Freeway

Larry's Happy Latte @ Panini in Beverly Hills

West Hollywood Street ArtCute New Fiat, Santa Monica

Larry's Cheese Dogs, Burbank

Wilshire Vista Signs Waiting for Repair, Venice Blvd., Mid-City

Lost Burger, Miracle Mile
photo by Larry Underhill

The Show Is Over

The Original Hot Dog Show.
Scene from "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956)

Sunday was the last day of operation for Papoo's Hot Dog Show on Riverside Drive in Toluca Lake. The original stand, simply called the Hot Dog Show was expanded in later years to accommodate inside dining. The place has been operating since 1949. I must confess that since I grew up on the other side of the hill, I'd only been to this establishment a few times. I used to work at Disney, late '80's, early '90's. We would stop here for lunch once in awhile.


There was another Hot Dog Show on that triangular bit of land at San Vicente, La Cienega and Burton Way, near Carthay Circle when I was a kid. It later became The Gingham Dog and then a FatBurger franchise. I believe that there were other Hot Dog Shows across the City too. Papoo's was the last hold-out of this mini-chain.


Larry and I drove to the Hot Dog Show on Saturday to take a few photos. A beautifully restored Bob's Big Boy hamburger restaurant stands across the street, with a huge "Bob" statue grinning at the now closed Papoo's.

I have heard that the building for Papoo's is going to become another restaurant. I'm sure all of the dog signage will be taken down. I do hope that the angel dog and the other signs show up in a roadside museum nearby. Sigh.

Photo by Naomi Alper

Cookin'

Yes, it was hot this past weekend in Los Angeles. Luckily, we did not have any hurricanes or storms like my friends on the East coast experienced. Hope everyone is drying off and recovering from the deluge.
We didn't have any major plans this weekend, so I did a bit of grocery shopping on Friday afternoon in preparation for some home-cooked meals. I took out my trusty Trader Joe's cookbook and found some interesting recipes. One night we had the Roasted Potatoes, Shrimp and Pancetta, pictured above. It was delicious. I usually pair shrimp with rice, but the little potatoes were a perfect compliment for this yummy dish. We also had some roasted eggplant to round out the meal.


Sunday night I prepared this great pasta. The exact name of the dish escapes me right now, but the sauce contained mascarpone cheese, juice and zest from one lemon, Limoncello liqueur, fresh herbs from my mini-garden and maybe a few more ingredients. The lemony flavor of the sauce was zingy and refreshing. THEN, I roasted some Mexican squash, tossed with Trader Joe's pesto sauce, parmesean, salt and pepper. We topped off our dinner with a simple salad.

LOVE those Trader Joe's cookbooks. There are several on the market right now. I highly recommend them if you have a T.J.'s store in your area.

Vintage Photo Friday

I was perusing the L.A. Library Photo Archives this morning and came upon this photo by Dick Whittington from the Summer of 1938 of Union Station under construction.
Union Station is one of the most graceful buildings in the city of Los Angeles, inside and out! Anyone can visit at anytime of the day and experience it's beauty.

From Wikipedia about the architecture of Union Station: Union Station was partially designed by John Parkinson and Donald B. Parkinson (the Parkinsons) who had also designed Los Angeles City Hall and other landmark Los Angeles buildings. They were assisted by a group of supporting architects, including Jan van der Linden. The structure combines Dutch Colonial Revival architecture (the suggestion of the Dutch born Jan von der Linden), Mission Revival, and Streamline Moderne style, with architectural details such as eight-pointed stars. Enclosed garden patios are on either side of the waiting room, and passengers exiting the trains were originally directed through the southern garden. The lower part of the interior walls is covered in travertine marble, and the upper part is covered with an early form of acoustical tile. The floor in the large rooms is terra cotta tile with a central strip of inlaid marble (including travertine, somewhat unusual in floors since it is soft). Attached to the main building to the south is the station restaurant designed by southwestern architect Mary Colter (the last of the "Harvey House" restaurants to be constructed as a part of a passenger terminal). Although now usually padlocked and stripped of many interior furnishings, the topology of its rounded central counter, streamlined booths, and inlaid floor patterns remain.

Union Station, July 2011

L.A. City Hall in the background

My Name is E-L-L-E-N

Every so often I go to the coffee place for a Chai Tea Latte. If I'm early for work or if I just feel like treating myself I'll skip over to Tully's or Starbucks. When the barista asks for my name, I always spell it out, E-L-L-E-N. My cuppa invariably comes back to me with EILEEN, ELAINE OR HELEN written on it.
Being a language stickler, I was really getting tired of this. So the next time I went to the coffee place I said that my name was JOAN. How could they get a simple name like JOAN wrong? When my Chai came up I heard the guy yelling out, "JUAN, JUAN, your Chai is ready." Oy! This sounds like a Larry David bit from "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

From now on, just call me PAM when you see me at Starbucks!

Missoni Mania

Ever since Missoni announced their new line for Target, I've been eyeing lots of ripple patterns!

Love this Cowl

Feather and Fan Shawl.

Missoni-Inspired Chevron Blanket

Zig Zag Blanket

ZigZag Washcloth
this pattern looks great in a single color too

Cardigan

Feather and Fan Kimono

I am working on my "Mock-Missoni" Cardigan right now, along with about 15 other projects!! I'm crocheting a basic top-down cardigan using some gifted Red Heart Soft Yarn ("Embers), from Darcy. Red Heart Soft has a beautiful drape...even in chunky crochet stitches. This yarn is sooooo variegated, that each double crochet stitch ends up being one color....FASCINATING and HYPNOTIZING! I plan on making a button band of horizontal stripes in solid colors (dark and light brown and coral), also striped collar and cuffs. I might use this stripe generator for a random stripe pattern. It really makes interesting patterns that I would never think of.Have you caught the Missoni fever?

Sittin' in the Park

Front Row, L-R: Sarah, Lori, Natalie.
Back Row, L-R: Stephanie, Julie, Beth, Lisa, Eve

We had a cool, calm Sunday afternoon sitting under the trees at the park in front of the L.A. Memorial Library on Sunday. Our "Sometimes Sunday" group, along with a few other ladies from the neighborhood joined us. We brought snacks, yarn and lots of conversation.
There were a few kids in the playground area. People were walking their dogs around the park, but basically, this park is empty on Sundays. I think that there are zero facilities here may have something to do with that. When the Library is closed, there are no restrooms! It's a neighborhood park for people who live close-by.

Natalie brought doxie, Tank (under blue towel), homemade cookies and other treats!

Sarah recently moved into our area. Stephanie lives a few blocks away from me

A glimpse of Beth on the left. Lisa and Eve both live nearby.

L.A. Memorial Branch Library

It was hot in town on Sunday, but under in the shade at the park it got downright chilly! I love sitting outside with my yarny friends!

Rhino Resurrected

"Rhino Resurrected" @ The Silent Movie Theater, L.A.

We went to an insightful documentary on Saturday at the Silent Movie Theater on Fairfax Avenue. This theater shows talkies now and is part of the CineFamily Film Series. The documentary is called "Rhino Resurrected: The Incredibly Strange Story of the World's Most Famous Record Store." Naturally, we saw many old friends who used to hang out at the shop and also from the Rhino reissue label. The movie focused on last year's Rhino Pop-Up Store and the beginnings of the shop and label. There were performances in the movie by Peter Case, Richard Thompson, Nels Cline, Thee Midnighters with Little Willie G. and interviews with many people in the music industry who actually were clerks at the shop, back in the day. Most of these people were present at the screening.
One topic that director, Keith Shapiro did NOT touch on was the roots music community that was represented at Rhino Record Store. In the 1990's, our friend, Allen Larman was the music buyer at the shop for the local roots scene. This was one of the only shops in town where we could buy music by our fave bands, Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys, Dave and Deke, Dave Alvin, Chris Gaffney and the Cold Hard Facts, The Blazers, Eddie Baytos and the Nervis Bros., various rockabilly, zydeco, Cajun, blues and classic R&B groups. When I hosted a blues radio show on public radio during the 90's, Allen would often suggest great CD reissue compilations that the store stocked. We went to many roots in-store performances at the shop on Westwood Blvd.

Michael Des Barres conducted a Q&A with the director and producers of the movie after the screening.

Nancy and Larry

There was a reception in the patio behind the theater too.Gary Calamar of KCRW and beyond

PUT THIS DOCUMENTARY ON HBO!!!

Vintage Photo Friday

Fanny, Abe and Ethel Pellicoff, before 1900, Philadelphia

This is an early photo of my Grandmother, Ethel Pellicoff Bloom (right) with her sister and brother when they were children. My Grandmother was born in 1889. She looks about 4 or 5 in this photo.

I searched for Chandler Photography at 828 Arch Street in Philadelphia and found an interesting Flickr site of Victorian photographs that look to be from the same era as our photograph. The address on the photo is in the center of historic Philadelphia, near the Liberty Bell, Franklin Square and other historic monuments. It appears to be a bustling business area today.
I love how these wee children are dressed! The girls in their dresses, petticoats and sweet little boots. Uncle Abe looks particularly adorable in his ruffled shirt and big bow tie!
One day, armed with information from Ancestry.com and other historic documents, I will visit the sites of Grandma Ethel's youth, Philadelphia, PA, Camden and Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy our beautiful August weather!

Orange Inspiration

I'm feeling rather sunny today.

Orange Roughy

Orange Peel Man

Orange Stinger

Orange Cake

Orange Yarn

Orange house

click on links for more info

What color are you feeling today?