Hi there!  The gang and I went down to Culver City for Nik’s eyeball check.  Things are looking okay with that.  Keep giving drops and hoping that the lens will drop into the bottom of his eye and maybe, just maybe, he’ll be able to see better.  Right now, he’s working on about 2% vision with one dead eye and one full, inoperable cataract-ed lens in the other.  Not that it’s slowing him down or impacting his manic zest for life any.  He’s still running 60 mph chasing his ball using his hearing and sense of smell — and with my assistance (lefts and rights).

Friday night after work, I got a little bit of neon shooting in.  This one’s just west of downtown Los Angeles.  I think it’s still unknown what this sign originally advertised for.  And I was surprised to see it lit:

 

 

I haven’t been to L.A.’s Chinatown in ages:

 

 

On to this morning — from Redondo Beach.  I don’t know how old this sign really is.  Certainly, the paint job appears to be non-vintage — but still…. fun sign:

 

 

Still Redondo Beach.  Next to Joe Oliveri Hair Design.  This head is BIG.  The “hair” is fake (not real living greenery):

 

 

The Golden Donut in Torrance… now a Mexican Food restaurant.  Long live the sign!

 

 

Also in Torrance — the Carson Plaza shopping center:

 

 

In Wilmington — Lucky Star Chinese.  I have no idea what this building housed originally.  It doesn’t match up with any of the A-frame restaurant chains that I’m familiar with:

 

 

From San Pedro.  According to the counter guys, this was originally the Hamburger Hut — established in 1936.   And you can see some ghosting on this sign and holes for the neon that might match that name.  But I’m suspicious that this was a hot dog place with the Dachshund featured so prominently.  A San Pedro on-line source does show a Hamburger Hut at this address in the 1950s — so maybe the guys are right about that.  This sign is more typical of the 1950s than 1930s.

 

 

Also San Pedro:

 

 

Exhausted by mid-afternoon — thank god!   It was a VERY noisy morning (mucho barking).  An over-the-shoulder, at a red light shot of the new kid (Griz) and Grem.

 

 

Last one from San Pedro:

 

 

Moving on to Long Beach:

 

 

The Walter Pyramid at Cal State University Long Beach — built in 1994.  This one would probably shoot better on a cloudy day.  But it’s very mirage-like that blue on blue:

 

 

Still Long Beach — on the former Owl Drug building (now Olives Gourmet Grocer):

 

 

A couple more shots from Long Beach:

 

 

At day’s end, the dogs were treated to the huge, LEGAL dog beach in Huntington Beach.  After that, too late to shoot anything else.  But I thought you might like the sunset silhouette of the Naked Surfer statue:

 

More Orange County tomorrow — but I’ll have to cut off in the afternoon since I’ve got to work on Monday morning.  I’ll probably make you wait for the blog post and photos until Tuesday or Wednesday.  Stay tuned…

Sorry for the delay in this final installment.  I was really exhausted from such a short trip and then life got in the way.  Anyhow, I got through my list and wrapped up around 3pm and beat the holiday traffic.  The day was spent shooting stuff in Hollywood and “The Valley”.

A typical Hollywood scene — I assume you pay & pose with these guys.  They are right in front of the Chinese Theatre.  This was always called “Grauman’s Chinese” when I was growing up — but now it’s the “TCL Chinese” which doesn’t have quite the ring.

 

Biggest mistake of the trip.  While I’m still eating dairy and I do love grilled cheese, I thought I’d give this a try.  I debated between the plain and the “Mission” which promised pepper jack on sourdough and I opted for the portabella mushroom addition.  Total $7.96 — ouch.

I was psyched.  But it turned out to be jack cheese with giant slices of jalapeno peppers all throughout it.  Gobs of them.  Three bites and I was gulping my Diet Coke for relief.  It was completely inedible.  I might have taken it back had I not already been many blocks away.  I can’t imagine anyone actually eating something like this.  I’d better just stick with ice cream and burritos from now on.  Pretty hard to screw them up.

 

Not much old stuff left in Hollywood.  This is as rusty/crusty as it gets:

 

This sign has been spiffed up a bit recently.  The neon removed and replaced with backlit plastic.  Here’s what it used to look like:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tmoneyla/3247681243/

 

The neon’s gone on this sign, too.  But the place still has some character:

 

Sorry about the sun flare.  There was originally a neon rose between “Parisian” and “Florist” on the orange sign — see this link:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/neonspecs/1112720670/

 

I don’t know how vintage or “retro” these signs are — but I will always stop and shoot an animated hammer.  Here’s a night shot:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7623944@N03/4735516753/

 

This sign was starting to get some rust and had a bit of peeling paint when I shot it last in 2008.  And things are only going to get worse now that the store’s closed.  Maybe being installed on the roof will protect it from whatever newcomers move into the store below?  Let’s hope.  I don’t know if the spokes were ever animated:

 

Moving on to The Valley.

Much sadness from Burbank.   It kills me to see Papoo’s Hot Dog Show closed.  I knew about it when it happened but it’s so much worse to see it in person.   Here’s what the dog with angel wings above the door used to look like:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/classymis/3800730140/

and an article about the place:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/dailydish/2011/08/papoos-in-toluca-lake-is-closing.html

The good news is that the dog and parts of the pole sign were saved by MONA (the Museum of Neon Art) and will be displayed at their new digs in Glendale eventually.

 

From North Hollywood.  When I last shot the barrel-shaped La Caña restaurant in 2008, it looked like this:

This article covers the place’s history and has a nice vintage photo:
http://www.nohoartsdistrict.com/index.php/north-hollywood-news/item/696-farewell-la-ca%C3%B1a#.UaY3EtJO-So

 

I have read in news reports that restoration plans were in the works since at least 2011.  However, things must be moving slowly since this is how it looked this weekend:

 

From Van Nuys.  An Atlas statue originally from a Jack LaLanne’s European Health Spa.  This one adapted for the Duk Su Jang Restaurant and installed on the roof.  There are still a number of these statues left around the country — though I don’t think any of them are associated with fitness centers any more.  Here’s one I shot in Columbus, OH in better shape — advertising for Atlas Construction:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/6984097814/

 

From Sherman Oaks.  A couple of diamond-topped jewelry store signs — just a few doors apart:

Another sign on the same block:

 

And lastly, from Northridge.   Who could not love the happy, drunken jug:

And on top of the pole sign:

 

 

So, that’s a wrap.  I’ll be down in Culver City again in a couple of weeks to get Nik’s eyeball rechecked.  I’ll probably get some more photos for you then if the weather is good.

Don’t forget, there are other photos from this trip at Ipernity:
http://www.ipernity.com/home/roadsidearchitecture

Hi there — another big day all over the L.A. area.  I accomplished a lot but still have Hollywood and Valley stuff to do tomorrow.  I’m thoroughly exhausted from being up really late two nights in a row.  What kills me time-wise is the night-time shooting.  I had a couple of things I wanted to shoot tonight — but now way, another time, too trashed.

Let’s start with this ghost billboard sign.  Somewhere on the Imperial Highway east of Hawthorne:

 

In Inglewood, there’s a little statue and doggie drinking fountain with a tribute to Penelope.  It appears that Penelope was a Sheltie:

Here’s the inscription:

And for scale, here’s the very first group family portrait with the new kid.  Left to right:  Sputnik, Fix, Griswold & Gremlin.  Oh and Sparkle is there on the far right — chugging along nicely on this trip with 342,000 miles now:

 

Another old Pep Boys sign — this one in Inglewood — and this store had the same terrazzo entrance.  So maybe that was common at Pep Boys stores in California?  I don’t remember seeing it at the ones in Pennsylvania.

 

Today’s big heartbreak.  I took this photo in 2008:

The sign was knocked over by high winds in 2010 and could not be repaired.  The sign shop and owner decided to build a replica sign.  I was told it would cost about $30,000 and that it would look just like the old one.  Well, I don’t know what happened — but this is what I found today.  Just not the same at all…

 

This sign on Fairfax in L.A. at the Solid One Gallery tattoo studio & art gallery looks like it might have been a Norge Ball with the band removed:
http://www.agilitynut.com/signs/norge.html

The size looks right — it could have been painted.  But, then again, it might just be a new plastic ball.

 

The former Darkroom is a heckuva lot easier to shoot now that the City came down on them for having tables & umbrellas on the sidewalk.   The City wanted them to get a permit for $6,000 — which they won’t do.  The facade’s giant camera is faced with black vitrolite (glass tiles).  More about the Darkroom’s history here:
http://www.yesterland.com/darkroom.html

 

Stunning, Islamic Revival apartments in West Hollywood from 1925:

 

A rooftop ghost sign in downtown L.A.  I have no idea what it said other than “Loan Co” and later “[something] Club”:

 

I made a pit stop for lunch in Echo Park.  I’ve seen dozens of these Los Burritos stands around L.A. but I don’t think I’ve ever eaten at one.  This one was adorably tiny so I pulled over and got my usual:   a chile relleno burrito.

Sorry to report, I can only give this one a “C”.  Pretty bland, watery beans, the cheese in the chile not gooey enough. But it was nice and filling and the dogs thought it was certainly great.  Griz was a fussy eater a couple of weeks ago — but now he’s game for anything I offer him.  Maybe he only knew dog food before.

 

This sign is at the Carpet Village in Hollywood.  It’s pretty tiny and way high up — but I shoot just about anything with crowns:

 

Last one for the night — also in Hollywood.  I went to check on the giant Easter Island Heads (or Moai, if you prefer).  The prop house had a fire and these guys got scorched a bit but they are now safe behind the chain link fencing.

 

Tomorrow (Monday/Memorial Day), I’ll try to wrap things up by the afternoon to avoid getting bogged down in traffic heading home.  I might be too beat to do the final blog post tomorrow night.  So, that might have to wait until Tuesday.   Til then — nighty night.

Three days off?  Hell yeah — let’s take some pictures!  So I’m off to L.A. again with a big list and a big map — and a new addition to the family.  Are ya’ll ready to tag along?  Well, you’re probably all at the beach or hanging with friends and family so you won’t have quite the virtual experience.

First off — let’s meet the new kid.  Not to worry, I have PLENTY of roadside photos for you, too.  After moping around for a few months after losing Grip, I found myself drawn to Petfinder and came across this dog which I couldn’t put out of my mind.  I emailed and had hoped that he’d been adopted but nope.  They’d had him a couple of months and no inquiries.  So, off to the desert I went to meet him — and that was that.  I’m back to a pack of four dogs.  I’ve had the guy about two weeks and he’s blended in well.  He’s about 10 pounds and probably around 10 months old.  Most likely a Rat Terrier — though this much black is pretty unusual.  He was “Pappy” at the shelter and then “Ulysses” at his foster home.   I’ve named him “Griz”, short for “Griswold”.

At the beach:

Lining up for dinner at home:

 

And from his first roadtrip (as far as I know) from today.  Two dogs in my lap on window duty (Grem & Griz):

 

Grem may be six years old but she’s still got enough spunk & energy to wrestle for hours a day with this young whipper snapper.  He’s a little bigger but she’s definitely in charge.  An over the shoulder shot while driving today:

 

As the day progressed, Griz’s eyes got smaller and smaller.  This roadtrip stuff is exhausting!

 

OK then — on with the show!   I drove down to L.A. after work & got some night shots for you.  From Culver City:

 

From Hollywood — Crossroads of the World:

 

The Winchell’s Donut sign in West Hollywood.  Some info about it here:
http://www.insidesocal.com/davidallen/2011/10/07/upland-winchells-sign-is-now-a/

 

On with today’s photos.  A former Alta Dena Dairy drive-thru store in Compton:

 

From Pico Rivera.  The mortar & pestle, top left, used to have neon as well:

 

This trip was a little more complicated than the last one — so I went back to my old ways of a printed map (vs. that free phone app) and my list.  This was old big handmade folding map I made with taped together Google maps — the pushpins from Google & just the street number written next to them to jive with the chronological printed list.  Does that make sense to anyone but me?

 

An old Pep Boys in L.A. (on Atlantic, north of Beverly):

 

It comes with a terrazzo “apron”.  I’ve never seen that at a Pep Boys before — maybe I need to start looking:

 

I’m still dumbstruck by the native SoCal foliage.  Purple trees?  OK, back east we have lilacs & wisteria — but this just doesn’t seem possible.  I’ve figured this one out — jacaranda trees, right?  And they are all over the place right now.  With piles of purple on the ground, too:

 

From Alhambra.  I would guess that this was another drive-thru dairy store — now dolled up with some retro lettering and serving as a water store:

 

I’ve been to this Foster’s Freeze in L.A. at least two times — always crappy weather til today:

 

What’s unusual about this Foster’s sign is the ice cream part.  The metal seems to have been cut out and a plastic piece inserted — which I assume was backlit.   For more Foster’s buildings and signs, I’ve got this page at my site:
http://agilitynut.com/eateries/fosters.html

 

And yes, I indulged.  I only allow myself sugary stuff on roadtrips — so this was it.  A small triple berry sundae.  I think strawberry & raspberry — don’t know what the third was.  Thumbs and paws up from me and the kids:

 

More signs — a couple from L.A.:

 

From South Gate — this one probably from the 1930s or 1940s with its Deco-y shape:

 

There’s lots of Art Deco & Streamline Moderne in Huntington Park — here’s an unidentified building:

and another, unfortunately, tarted up with signs:

 

This one in L.A. really intrigues me.  The waffle cone patterning reminds me of a Twistee Treat — though entirely the wrong shape.  More like a teapot — but no spout.  The building is round — or, more accurately, conical.  The hideous door has to be a later addition:

 

I went to check up on this sign in L.A. — this shot from 2008:

and was horrified to see what it looked like today:

 

And let’s close out with some neon from Pasadena.  This is a nice rooftop sign.  Here it is by day:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/calamity_hane/3599967702/

 

A giant rooftop sign — previously Bekins Storage:

 

 

From Gus’s Barbeque:

I was thinking when I shot this that the white neon was an arrow — but now I realize that it was a white chicken.

 

 

For more details of the Gus’s signs, see my photos over at ipernity.  I’m done with Flickr.  They’ve changed their format into something absolutely horrible (slow and ugly).  I’ve copied all my Flickr photos there and will only be uploading the new stuff to ipernity.  So, here’s the link (more & different photos from today):

http://www.ipernity.com/home/roadsidearchitecture/

It’s exactly 2am — so nighty night — more tomorrow!

 

Hello there my lovely blog-er-oos!  Yes, it’s been a long time.  I’ve had my nose to the grindstone — pumping photos & descriptions into the website from those 10,000 photos from last year.  I still have maybe 4,000 photos to go.  If you want to follow along with my additions & progress, there’s always the “what’s new” page:
http://www.agilitynut.com/whatsnew.html

Otherwise, eking out a living & spending a lot of time with the dogs at various beaches & grassy fields.  I should announce that I lost one of my dogs a couple months ago.  Gripper had a really bad case of anemia (IMHA) and then had a miraculous recovery.  A full month of joy for us both before she succumbed to a quick and fatal gastrointestinal episode.  I’m still a bit of a wreck from missing her.  She was one special dog and gave me more than 15 years of challenges, laughs, and companionship.

Which brings me to the reason for today’s daytrip.  An annual checkup for Sputnik with a doggie ophthalmologist in Culver City.  His one functioning eye has definitely gotten worse in the past few months.  I have to on-leash steer him to keep him from crashing into poles and even walls.  I only run him in wide open spaces, where he continues to run about 60 mph.  I strategically throw the ball which ever direction he’s heading, landing it near him so he can hear it and sniff it down.  The good news is that his crappy, cataract-ed lens is so bad now that surgery is not an option.  That saves me a few thousand bucks with the risk of blindness anyway, thank you!  Fortunately, the lens is so bad that with these new pupil-constricting drops, it may just fall down inside the eye — meaning he could see much better if it does.  Crossing fingers!  He has to go back in a month for evaluation.  Therefore, more good news, another day trip ahead in June.  More photos then…  And hopefully the weather is better then than I can get in TWO days.   (Forecast is rain for tomorrow.)  No biggie roadtrips on the horizon — but eventually I will figure out a way.

OK — on with the photos!!  Let’s start with some Culver City stuff:

 

 

On to Los Angeles — the former Kelbo’s:
http://www.oldlarestaurants.com/kelbos/

 

 

From West L.A.  It was shocking and sad to see Dolores closed.  Evidently, there was a fire there in December:
http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/12/25/investigators-continue-probing-fire-at-landmark-coffee-shop/

 

 

For this trip, I gave a new app a try.  I won’t bore you with my old system.  But, this time, I plotted the destinations (actually enough for maybe a dozen days) on Google Maps and then used the free “My Places” app.  I’ve tried using Google Maps directly on my iPhone on a previous trip and it sucked.  But this was a pretty handy, well-functioning thing.  Tapping on the pushpins gives you the address.  And the map has that constantly updating blue dot that shows you where you are in relation to the push pins.   I still bring my printed companion list with the biz names, etc. so I know what the addresses represent.  It did help to organize the route & list once I had plugged everything in on the computer.  This is as close as I’ll come to GPS folks!!

 

 

Further diversions…  I’ve seen quite a lot of these trees and have no idea what they are.  Bizarre, drooping, trumpet-y flowers.   Can you flora experts out there give us an I.D.?

 

 

Hollyhocks, in abundance!

 

 

This one breaks my heart.  Back when I lived in Venice in the late 1970s, the Fox Venice was a happening place.  Double features, all kinds of fun art house, foreign film stuff.  With an upstairs lounge so popular that many people just paid the box office fee and never watched the movies.  The neon marquee is gone and there are crappy stores there now.  I couldn’t bring myself to peek inside.  What once was:
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/1137

 

 

The Penguin Coffee Shop in Santa Monica is still sorta kinda there.  Well, a dentist office now but… be grateful, glass half full.  The penguin survives and there are still white rocks on the roof, too.  Here’s a vintage photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/blast_of_the_past/6312256845/

 

 

And I’m very grateful that one of my fave college-days-budget-eats places is still around.  It’s hardly changed at all.  Pancho’s Tacos on Lincoln in Santa Monica.  I got a chile relleno burrito but I don’t have a photo for you since I ate it at night.  The entire thing.  Like a ravenous pig.

 

OK, let’s close out with some pretty neon-night photos.  From Santa Monica:

 

 

And Venice:

 

Same place — animated parrot with open/shut beak:

 

 

See you all back here in June!  Happy spring to you all!

 

Oh, and, don’t forget, there’s more photos from today at Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/

 

I’m not really into the whole Christmas holiday thing.  Or any holiday for that matter.  But this year is special since I’m getting used to my new, old locale.  And since it’s still t-shirt weather here in SoCal, I’d better grab the season-ality some other way.  When I was growing up here, we’d always go to Candy Cane Lane:  a block where people decked out their houses with lights & displays.  Alas, Ventura did away with the tradition sometime in the 1990s.  But there are two places in Ventura County that continue the tradition.

Oxnard features a 10 block residential loop.  It’s not quite the same as the days when I was growing up.  Most of the decorations were homemade then and there was more music and animated pieces.  Now, there are lots of cartoon characters and repetitive, store-bought stuff.  Although the animated dripping icicles are really neat.

This house is definitely the star of the show on the Oxnard loop.  There was live entertainment — a woman with a very good voice singing Christmas songs.  She’s responsible for me actually getting “Have a Holly Jolly Christmas” stuck in my head tonight.  There was also a popcorn machine passing out cups to the crowd.  Those are palm tree trunks on the left encircled with lights.

Some other pretty displays:  (I’m noticing that WordPress has messed with its photo uploading feature and that sometimes it takes three clicks to get to the larger version of these photos — sorry bout that.  I’ll see if I can’t get it resolved soon.)

 

Oxnard also decorates the big pine tree in the main square for the holidays.  It ain’t the Rockefeller Center tree — but I think I like it all the more for its small town feel.  Here’s the glamour shot:

And a reality shot with more light showing the tree, the palms, people, etc.:

 

I also checked out the Camarillo version of Candy Cane Lane this week.  Much smaller than the one in Oxnard.  So small I walked this one with the dogs which was really more fun than driving.  Some excerpts.  This bear and tree and inflatables get repeated at many houses — but still pretty:

 

A unique display with a vintage Thunderbird in the driveway.  Santa in the driver’s seat and Rudolph in the passenger seat:

 

And I appreciate the effort and homemade-ness of this one:

I hope you enjoyed this post in lieu of a Christmas card from the dogs and I.  Thank you for all your support during our cross-country move.

A lot has happened since I posted a couple of weeks ago.  I got a job for one thing.  It’s not the most impressive job or the best paying one.  Maybe one-third of what I was making in NYC.  But my boss is nice and I don’t have to dress like a girl.  And both of those things are worth a LOT to me.  And it’s enough money to put a roof over our heads.  It’s about a 20 minute commute to work (from Ventura to Camarillo) with light traffic.  I was dreading L.A. traffic if I had to move there — which was seeming like an inevitability until last week.

Finding a place to live was no easy feat with four dogs.  Most apartments, if they allow pets at all, have a strict policy about a maximum of two dogs.  And under twenty pounds.  My guys fit the weight limit — but the “four” was not even open for discussion.  No matter how good my references from the other places were and no matter my many years of experience as a dog trainer, etc.    So, the apartment building that we call home is definitely on the skanky side.  Very overpriced for what it is.  But I really had no other option.  It’s about three times bigger than my last NYC apartment was.  Which means I might actually have to buy a couch to fill up the void of a living room.  The dogs will like that!  It’s really ironic that this is the most ramshackle place I’ve ever lived — and it’s in California, not New York.

On to some local photos.  Here’s one of the parks that I run my dogs at on a regular basis.  Originally a cemetery — now officially “Memorial Park”.  But most folks call it Cemetery Park.  Only a few of the original grave markers were kept.  Which pissed off a lot of people.  Especially since many of the interred were veterans.  The park is now mostly used by people exercising their dogs. Which has especially pissed off the relatives of the deceased (dogs crapping on sacred ground).  But the owners pick up the poop & it’s quite a joyful place.  There are big signs saying “dogs must be on leash” and “off-leash dogs will be impounded” but nobody pays them any attention.

And in the park’s parking lot — Poinsettia plants — which are more like trees if allowed to grow up.  Most people in other parts of the country only know them as those two foot tall Christmas decorations that wither and die by January.  But here in the “Poinsettia City by the Sea”, they are happy campers:

 

I remember when this Arby’s opened.  Just the concept of a roast beef sandwich seemed novel at the time.  This hat sign is well-maintained & lit at night.  The interior has been remodeled & there’s no longer the original neat floor like this one:

 

I’m proud to report that Ventura also has a giant rooster now.  This guy is on the roof at the Bodacious BBQ.  He is lit with a spotlight at night and can be seen from Highway 101:

 

A few signs for you.  This is from a used car lot in town:

 

Over in Oxnard — this relic of a sign.  Once the Missile Cafe and Missile Motel.  This sign advertised for the cafe which later became a bar.  The motel sign is there but completely covered with white paint now.  The buildings are long gone but the signs remain.  The name was a reference to the Point Mugu Naval Air Missile Test Center which was built in 1946.

The other side with tacky & peeling applied lettering:

 

Just a mile or so from my job in Camarillo — this cute guy:

who is even more stunning by night:

 

So, all is well.  Just three months ago and three thousand miles away, I had no idea that this would be happening — or even possible.  The job & apt. hunting has been a real struggle but my persistence has paid off.   There are no big travel plans for a while — maybe a long, long while.  But I’m planning a quickie trip for my Xmas / birthday.  Just three or four days.  I’ll keep you in suspense about the “where” for now.

Until then, I hope you are able to make lemonade out of the lemons that life gives you.   An appropriate metaphor since when I was growing up here in Ventura, it was known as the lemon capital of the world.  Here are a few vintage crate labels that you might enjoy:

Lemon groves were everywhere then.  I remember riding my bike to school through them.  It felt 10 degrees warmer when you emerged from them.  Most of those groves have been replaced by houses and shopping centers full of Home Depots, Targets, Vons, Burger Kings, and all that.  Chula Vista and Corona, California both claim to be the world’s lemon capital now.  Our next door neighbor, Oxnard, is still busy making lemons — one out of every five Sunkist lemons come from there.   Some of Ventura’s lemon and orange groves have survived despite all the new development.  And there is still that huge sky, the hills, the gorgeous beach, and Hawaii-esque trees and flowers everywhere.   I had forgotten about the smell of the eucalyptus trees.  I am longing to be reacquainted with the fragrance of night-blooming jasmine.

Today, while driving the dogs up to Bates Beach (10 miles north) to run their butts off for their special weekend treat, I passed a handmade sign reading “Avocados 7 for $1”.   Yet Subway still charges $1 for avocado “spread” on its sandwiches here.   Crazy.  Like the inexplicable fact that gas in Southern California costs more than in NYC despite all that oil drilling all over the place, on land and right off the beach.  I’m about to get Sparkle her first “smog test” (like baby’s first pair or shoes).  Smog tests and smog test places are another odd little way of life here.  I guess we’ll both be re-branded as Californians soon (I need a new driver’s license).  Truly psychological whiplash!

I caught a good night’s sleep and got up early.  I’m now organized enough to bang out the final post from this four-day trip.  I’m rejuvenated from the picture-taking adventures and ready for another week of job hunting.  It was shocking to see how much L.A. has changed — and not changed — since I lived here 30-something years ago.  So much development (some people have money — or at least they did!); so much more traffic;  so many more homeless people.  This economy blows.  Hope it gets better soon for all of us!

Let’s start with a couple of shots from Chinatown:

 

And some downtown shots.  Because of the tall buildings, it’s very hard to get any decent light unless you’re there right around noon and scamper about like mad.  I was there much too early and didn’t feel like waiting:

 

Lots more L.A.  The Gem Motel sign is across the street from the motel itself.  I don’t know why:

 

Well-preserved storefront — a REAL rarity anywhere in L.A.:

 

I stumbled upon this Lenin sculpture in front of the Ace Museum.  This page explains the piece:
http://www.fairfaxbynight.com/lenin-sculpture-at-ace-museum-on-la-brea-ave/

 

I’m stumped by this one on La Brea.  A Chihuahua and a cowboy’s shadow?  Does anyone know the story here?  While desperately Google-ing for info, I came upon another great wall painting that was (maybe it still is?) on La Brea:
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ikj3GuzBfuU/TGGIpL9L4cI/AAAAAAAAEm0/009iFRKgoeM/s1600/La+Brea,+west+hollywood.jpg

 

These are news to me.  Back in NYC, we had those big double-decker tour buses.  Here in Hollywood-ish today, I saw lots of these stretch-Sparkles — some with canopies over the seating area:

 

I don’t know if the “Ice Cream” part of the sign was always affiliated with Baskin-Robbins.  It appears to be:

 

And speaking of sweets….  Back in Ventura, I was reminiscing about one of my favorite places.  We would often go there for my birthday since I’m not big on cake.  I decided to check on-line to see if there were any House of Pies left.  Sure enough — there are a few:  two in Houston — and one in Los Angeles.  Yes!  The “Original” is no longer part of the name — and is missing from the sign:

 

The sun was not in my favor, nor was the parking lot & other stuff — but you can see the building is basically original.  Here’s a vintage photo of another one for comparison:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/25082963@N02/2840367572

And more about the chain here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Original_House_of_Pies

 

Just some of the selections:

 

I got two slices:  a peach — and brought home a chocolate cream.  Only photo-ed the peach and it got a little manged in Sparkle’s cubby.  The choc. cream piece was HUGE.  They were superb — highly recommend when you’re in L.A.  It’s a very vintage-y coffee shop interior and feel as well.  The crust was very buttery — very cookie-ish — just perfect:

 

Continuing the food theme.  I went to the Universal Studios CityWalk since I had missed shooting some of the signs there on loan from MONA.  This one’s not vintage but still fun.  The popcorn pieces flash independently:

 

Lots of palm tree cellphone towers around — but I hadn’t seen a pineapple until this one in the Valley:

 

This sign is at the Valley Beverage Company in Sherman Oaks — a three-sided one:

Better yet, they have a giant (maybe three feet tall?) bottle of Patrón tequila on the roof:

 

From the Premier Car Wash in Encino:

 

Nearly “home” (Ventura, where I’m hoping to find a job) — this one from Camarillo:

 

OK — back to the grind for me.  If I’m still unemployed at Christmas, which is my birthday, I’m gonna treat myself to a little Vegas trip.   So it’ll be a win-win situation.  Til then…

I’ll get this final post to you on Sunday or Monday sometime.  A full day of shooting today & then the drive back to Ventura.  I’m beat and lots to do in the next couple of days.  Hope you all are safely back home now (or soon) if you’ve been traveling to grandmother’s house or wherever for the holiday.

Just another gorgeous day here in paradise.  10 minutes of fog in Pico Rivera was kinda shocking.  Highs in the low 80s and I even turned the A/C on for about an hour for the panting dogs.  That was also shocking — that the A/C still works!  (regular followers of my blog know what I’ve been through with that)

A real sign fest for you tonight.  Let’s start with East L.A.:

Also East Los Angeles — an adapted Jim’s Burgers sign:

From Whittier.  Merle West has moved, leaving this sign behind.  The building is vacant & work is going on.  Not feeling good about the future of this sign:

Also Whittier.  I’m a sucker for shish-kabob signs (at least that’s what I call them:  spears with shapes on them):

Five Stars Liquor is or was apparently a chain.  This sign is in Bellflower:

Also in Bellflower.  Boo’s sells windows & floor coverings — so, maybe this sign advertised for another business originally?  But those bulb-filled letters look pretty vintage:

Another shot from Bellflower.  I’m assuming this building was used for something fancier before the carpet store.  Maybe a restaurant?

Also Bellflower.  The construction of a Zen Monastery.  I love all the wood framing:

 

From Long Beach, evidently.  I didn’t even know I was THAT far south today:

 

From Lakewood.   Hmm.  The old Shakey’s signs read “Ye Public House” — and this one says “Ye Olde Publick House”.  Is there a standard that I don’t know about for “public house” pizzerias?  Or did these guys just copy Shakey’s?  Or is it just a fancy way of saying that they serve beer?  And what are they covering up with that plastic?

 

Back in Bellflower:

 

I stopped at Bellflower Bagels to shoot the giant donut sign — here’s a shot I took from a few years ago (it still looks the same):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/2360510020/

And while there, I decided to give their bagels a try.  I could tell they were the typical soft California version.  I have tried the Einstein’s and the Noah’s and the Jacks’ Famous and even the Von’s.  Just nothing like NYC bagels at all.  So there was no sense getting poppy or sesame and then complaining about it.  I went with the cranberry.  Which I was hoping was more tart than sweet.  But it was pretty sweet.  And tiny.  But not bad either.  The cream cheese helped.

 

Still Bellflower:

 

From Maywood.   This sign stands on a fenced vacant lot.  But a vinyl sign attached to the fence said “New Primo Burger Coming Soon”.  I don’t know how long they’ve been promising that.

 

Last sampling for the night from downtown.  I swung by Phillipe the Original for some night photos.  This clock sign is inside the restaurant.  I don’t know how vintage the neon is but the clock face appears to be old:

 

And outside by the parking lot:

 

So, another day or two to play down here before I head back to Ventura (depends on the interview situation).   More photos for you tonight.  And, don’t forget, if you’re not following along at Flickr, you’re missing half the photo-samplings from this trip:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/agilitynut/