FrogBlog | Translating Los Angeles – Page 18 – We like it here! One Germerican and one American translating Los Angeles for the World.

Catch-22

Under the new water conservation measures in Los Angeles and adjacent communities, watering lawns with sprinklers and hose pipes is only allowed on two days per week and only during a certain time window in the morning and in the evening. No more sprinklers running merrily all day long, even when it rains (yes, there were many proud lawn owners who never bothered to turn them off).

These new water codes (plus the higher costs for water) seem to have served as a wake up call to some, who seriously considered going even a step further in their efforts to create gardens and lawns needing less or no water. One way to go are gardens with local, drought tolerant plants, but such landscaping certainly does not lead to the lushly green appearance dear to so many homeowners. After having had the quintessential picture of the American Dream rammed down their collective throats for decades, they want exactly that – the house with the green lawn and the white picket fence.

To get the best of both worlds (no water consumption, but a nice green lawn), a gentleman in a city not very far from here (actually, so near that we do most of our shopping there), had a brilliant idea: he had artificial turf installed in the front yard of his newly built home. Not cheap, tacky looking stuff, mind you, but really nice fake turf, which cost him quite a few thousand dollars. Turf like that looks so real today and has so many advantages, that cities, golf clubs and private persons are installing it in parks, on golfs courses and in their gardens.

Then, however, this gentleman learned that in order to receive final approval from the local Design Review Board and adhere to required landscaping plans, he would have to replace the artificial turf with live grass, which would have required daily watering (forbidden under the City code) over quite a few weeks to take root. And if the grass died because of the water restrictions, he could be cited by code enforcement for dead landscaping in a front yard setback.

Now the turf war is on. After the initial request to rip out the offending green stuff, the homeowner has received permission to keep the illegal turf until City planners have set up an artificial turf display for residents to see samples prior to the issue returning to the dais for the City Council do deliberate.

And what about the neighbors of this gentleman? Well, they offered to sign petitions or to go to City Hall on his behalf. It seems that they are not offended – however much the Design Review Board and the City Council might wish for some expression of public outrage at this blatant attempt to… save water…while still…having a lawn…

Oh, I don’t know. My mind reels. As it always does when I encounter a perfect Catch-22.

Mind The Moose

Clifton’s Cafeteria looks so absolutely unremarkable from the outside that many probably don’t even give it a second look.

But should the adventurous city traveler step through the door to be met by this arrangement,

he or she might reconsider whether this is really your average cafeteria eating style place.

Walking up the staircase,

past some more bears engaged in slightly unusual activities,

one has a good view of the lower level eating area.

My personal favorite is the moose on the balcony.

Quite impressive, I must say. Judging from the size of the head, this was not a small animal at all. I probably would have given it a wide berth, had I come across it in the wild.

And there you have it – Clifton’s Cafeteria is certainly not unremarkable. It is not a fine dining place, but one of the last bastions of honest fare so dear to many who remember this kind of food from their childhood. I highly recommend it for breakfast, if one wants to attend events at the Convention Center, which is only a short stroll of a few blocks away.

All details of the history of this place, the last one left of several restaurants owned by the Clinton family in the Los Angeles area, can be found here. How long Clifton’s will survive is unsure – the family just put the building up for sale. What happens next – nobody knows.

Decisions On A Hot L.A. Day

Should I take a cool bath?

Eek. No!

Step Right In

This is a peek into some of the houses at the Heritage Square Museum I showed from the outside in the last post.

A cosy corner.

William Morris wallpaper, frieze and ceiling treatment; no proper Victorian house would have been complete without these imports from England.

A chandelier with colorful detail work.

This lamp might look a bit utilitarian in comparison, but it is interesting insofar as that it is a dual-power lamp – it is rigged for use with gas and electricity.

Not all of the houses have yet been finished inside. Most of the structures are still in the process of being restored. This invariably involves stripping the plaster, wallpaper and paint of decades to arrive at the original walls

and laths.

Yes, no drywall back then, just laths and plaster. Seeing this one can imagine why it takes so long until the interior of one of these house saved from the wrecking ball is restored to its former beauty.

The Bunny, The Frat House And The Hen

Once, on a flight to the US, I was so bored that I decided to watch a comedy on offer, “Legally Blonde.” About 10 minutes into the film I was giggling and enjoying myself hugely. Talk about East Coast / West Coast stereotypes and what a good script and a delightful main character can make out of that! One of my many favorite moments was the sequence where the West Coast girl turns up at a frat party dressed as a Playboy bunny, because she was told it was a costume party. Eek, bitchy East Coasters.

Anyway, we see our heroine walking up the steps of the frat house in her shiny satiny pink bunny outfit, fluffy tail, ears and all, stepping through this door:

Yes, and I stepped through this door too – but rest assured, not adorned in pink satin. This is the door to the Perry House at the Heritage Square Museum in Los Angeles. Filming was done here

and in the house next door, the Hale House.

The Heritage Square Museum is an example of how deeply some care about the history of Los Angeles and the architectural history of the US and to what lengths they go to preserve it for future generations. It is well worth a visit for anyone coming into town, whether as a tourist or to settle here. To get a peek into the houses, take the tour (weekends only).

Although it is a museum, some live there:

See, if bunnies can hop into houses, mother hens can parade their chicks around.They might not wear pink satin, but they do have fluffy backsides.

As Requested (Cat Content)

Portrait of a cat resting after a well deserved breakfast.

Julchen’s comment: “Of course it is well deserved. Why do you think my humans can sleep so well and carefree at night? Because I am prowling the house, taking care that no pesky invaders disturb their sleep. See? I am a working cat. And don’t get me started on that lazy Siamese. Sleeps all night and still gets fed in the morning. Life is cruel and unfair.”

6.25 AM

Out in the park it is still cool at a lovely, balmy 75°F.

The city down below gets ready for another busy day.

The perfect time for running. Everybody is out.

Before it gets really hot, we’ve all had a lovely time.

Don't Call It Lotus Festival Any Longer

For 31 years the Lotus Festival in Echo Park was one of the highlights of summer. Founded by an Asian community group, the festival took place at Echo Park Lake with its abundance of lotus flowers in bloom, providing two days of fun in the park, with dragon boat races, music, food stalls and entertainment to visitors of all ages, genders and nationalities.

The lotus beds died first. By 2004 they started to look severely damaged, by 2007 only a few plants were left, which did not bloom in time for the festival. Speculations were rife – bad water quality, overall pollution, chemicals, theft, an unknown pest, but no real reason for the death of the lotus beds was named. In 2008 all that was left were a few dead plants, a sad sight for those attending the festival which still took place.

This year marks the death of the Lotus Festival. It was canceled. No lotus, no festival, right? Part of the reason was also that the original organizers could not get the funds together for a festival at the former scale. R.I.P. Lotus Festival.

The neighborhood Chamber of Commerce tried to put together a similar event, no longer called the “Lotus,” but the “Midsummer Festival,” which took place on June 11th. Few visitors came; no wonder – without the lotus flowers and the dragon boat races the main attractions were gone.

Echo Park Lake is still a small oasis in the middle of a bustling and sometimes rather rough neighborhood. The City of Los Angeles is planning to refurbish the park next year. A replanting of a lotus bed is being discussed. All these plans are laudable, but I personally doubt that they will be put into effect; money is tight and other projects might have to come first.

I am afraid that the lotus blooms and the Lotus Festival will fall into the category of things to be remembered fondly and with quite a lot of sadness as something which was beautiful and is now gone.

The Door To The City

For years I tried to find a motif embodying the City of Los Angeles for me.

Finally I found it.

“Dance Door” by Robert Graham

The bronze sculpture, created by Graham in 1978, was donated to the Music Center in 1982 by Frederick and Marcia Weisman. For me this vista is Los Angeles at its best. The old (City Hall) framed within the new (modern art) creates a view of a sprawling municipality which combines, by use of frame, space and distance, a perfect relationship.

I found “my” view of the city. On the 4th of July weekend. Coincidence?

Downtown (Part IV) – St Vincent Court

Sometimes it is hard to give away the location of a place. One might reveal a secret to others who then come and take away what is so unique about this little hideaway. But with St Vincent Court I’ll make an exception.

The history behind this tiny little court is just so utterly fascinating. This is the site of the very first institution of higher learning in Southern California. In 1865 the Vincentian Fathers founded Saint Vincent’s College, which operated here from 1868 till 1887. Later it became Loyola University, still here in Los Angeles.

Then came another first – in 1907 the first Bullocks department store opened here. Yes, the first of John G. Bullocks’ department stores, of that Mr. Bullocks who later constructed his temple to art and commerce on Wilshire which today houses another institute of learning.

With the deterioration of Downtown Bullocks also suffered and closed in the middle of the ’80s. Today the building houses mostly jewelry businesses inside, like most structures in the area. Just as an aside to the nifty shopper, apparently the quality of the gems offered here is quite up to par to those in other parts of the city, but at much more favorable prices.

When one is a bit tired from walking around Downtown, when the hustle and bustle and the noisy of people, cars and music gets a bit too much, then St Vincent Court is the place to retreat to. With every step down the quite uniquely decorated alley there is less noise; one only hears the murmur of people sitting at the sidewalk tables, the cooing of the odd pigeon, and the chink of cups of coffee or tea being set down on their saucers. The next sensual impact is the scent of food, not overwhelming, but oh so appetizing. Most of the cafes and bistros serve Middle Eastern cuisine of a fine quality. So one can have it all in St Vincent Court, which was declared a historical landmark in 1957: History, food, relaxation.

I hope that I will never have to regret giving away one of the most quaint little corners in Downtown. But then I really didn’t reveal the exact address – the interested wanderer will have to find it for him/herself.