Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Clementine

Across the vast fields of construction on the northside of Century City is a worthwhile treat -- if you can figure out how to get there. Clementine is a family owned cafe, open for breakfast and lunch. They have fresh soups, delictable sandwiches and sweet desserts. They also have a number of fresh salads (of the tossed kind and other varieties) that change according to the seasons. in fact, the only drawback (besides the construction and the tricky parking situation) is that it's a little pricey for everyday use. $12.50 gets you a tossed salad with chicken, and a number of specials are available for $8.50, even half of their wonderful roast beef sandwich with horseradish mayonnaise with soup or salad. It also comes with a large cookie.

They celebrated April with two types of grilled cheese sandwiches a day (we liked the tried and true -- also still available, chedder) to see which people like best. Further they have things you can buy for dinner -- meat loaf, mac and cheese, brisket. All this from a homey, nearly pretention-free (we're looking at you, Joan's) atmosphere. Always bustling, there's usually a table available -- key at peak times. Clementine is a keeper.

Clementine, 1751 Ensley Avenue, Los Angeles, CA

posted by kuaptic. @ 10:32 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Flowery Couch

Here we have a couch that may be too good looking for Palms, but nonetheless, it's getting kicked to the curb. Imagine the sort of older lady who would have this item, maybe sophisticated, no cats (not like the 80s couch!), probably a gourmet of some kind, a woman of taste, with books and art. And still, she puts her couch out with no cushions on it. What do people do with these cushions? Do they just keep stacks of them in their homes for emergencies? For nostalgia?

posted by kuaptic. @ 9:30 AM 0 comments

Friday, May 26, 2006

Hating Hummers

Hummers are a part of life in LA. Although we're assured that Land Rovers get about the same gas mileage, there's something about hummers that we find completely nauseating. There's something so shiny and new and smug about those cars. Like they know they're using up so many natural resources and they don't care. They're in it for the looks for the feeling of road dominance and the fantasy that they might roam hidden trails and ford rivers (more environmentally irresponsible behavior) at any time.

The hummer was orginally built for the US Army to replace the lightweight and less armored jeep that they had used through the Vietnam conflict. It came to fame through its part in the highly televised first gulf war in the early early nineties. Around this time, Arnold Schwarzenegger asked them to make civilian models. He was, in fact, the first private owner of the Hummer, and continues to own several.

Though we don't own Priuses, we know that Prius owners tend to wave to each other (wait, it becomes relevant) and spread the good feeling of owning an environmentally friendly car. We think we should take a page of that book and apply it to Hummers, the poster-car for wasteful, ignorant, Republican way, and suggest that, since failing gas prices have done little to disway Hummer owners, we start a campaign of unpleasantness for them. Nothing dangerous -- we don't advocate cutting them off or anything that might cause someone to get hurt, just flick them off. Flick them off at every opportunity.

posted by kuaptic. @ 9:57 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Filling Up at Ford's

Ford's Filling Station is the talk of the town these days. Opened by seasoned chef Ben Ford, who tried it out in a small town in Ohio and who happens to be the son of actor Harrison Ford, it's the place everyone on the westside wants to go. It certainly looks the part, warm and busy, with dark furniture and a large bar, with a bunch of cookbooks off to one side. Generally, it's pretty tough to get s seat without a wait, unless you come early. It's filled to the rafters at lunch and dinner.

We visited and were seated in about ten minutes -- lucky. We found the service to be slow: slow to show up, slow to order and slow to bring food. We had the butter luttuce salad, the fabulous burger (now an LA staple, this large thing, fitted with blue cheese and grilled onions owes its genesis to My Father's Office, in Santa Monica), served with superior french fries and fried onions was definitely the star of the meal, but the trout salad was very good. The french bread pizza was passing, but nothing special, with the home stewed tomatoes, and a bit of prosciutto.

We figure Ford's is at it's best with meat, not only because of our own experience, but also because of their cured meats list, which is impressive. they also do fried well -- with they fish and chips that comes not only with french fries, but with crudite. We think that Ford's is worth another try, but it's definitely not for those faint of heart or afraid of grease.

Ford's Filling Station, 9531 Culver Boulevard, Culver City, CA

posted by kuaptic. @ 9:39 PM 0 comments

Couch that Time Forgot

The eighties called and they want that fabric back! So does that cat whose been systematically working over every corner for the last 20 years.

posted by kuaptic. @ 3:00 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

The Derby: Safe!


The orginal Brown Derby has been granted Historic Cultural Monument Status as of last Friday, which pretty much cinches that'll be around for your kids kids to marvel at.

posted by kuaptic. @ 10:47 AM 0 comments

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Who's Hu in Palms


1. Hu's Szechwan -- Great Chinese with absolutely no frills. Probably the best Chinese on the Westside. They don't use brown sauce on their chicken with broccoli. But that's the only downside. The wonton soup is sublime, and the Mu Shu is excellent.
10450 National Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

2. Boardwalk 11 -- Nice little karaoke joint. Great drinks, pool, and karaoke off one stage (so get there early!) Ask about Art, old guy with Buddy Holly glasses and a pompidor (!!) who has a voice like pooling mercury.
10433 National Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

3. The Overland Cafe -- We wish we could say that the Overland Cafe is a great place. It should be a nice neighborhood diner/cafe. But it just isn't. The food's okay, but not stellar. The service is incredibly slow and it's not that clean. Sorry, Overland Cafe.
3601 Overland Ave, Los Angeles, CA

4. Cucina Paradiso -- Good food, though it tries a little bit hard. They should relax and let the food speak for itself. 3387 Motor Ave, Los Angeles, CA

5. Bedhead -- The best overpriced pajamas in town! We love 'em. It's a great splurge. But they'll be leaving us soon. 3305 Motor Ave, Los Angeles, CA

6. The Coop -- Arguably the best pizza in the city. Certainly up there with Casa Bianca and Hard Times Pizza. 10006 National Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA

We love these lamps! They remind us of home. Los Angeles!

posted by kuaptic. @ 9:38 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Rockensuckner

So everybody's all on about how great the new Rockenwagner bakery is. Yeah, yeah, we went to the restaurant, it was okay. But when we got there, we were seriously underwhelmed. We expected fresh sandwiches, but they were small, pre-made and available from a refridgerator in the corner. They seemed thrilled about their pretzel bread, which we didn't try, but we picked up a brioche (we wondered what a German brioche would be like!) Turns out, it was...pretzel-y, tough on the outside, wet and tasteless on the inside. Make some fresh sandwiches! Already.

12835 W Washington Blvd, Mar Vista, CA

"She'll study you while you fidget and you turn."

posted by kuaptic. @ 9:26 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Old Lady Couch

We're back! And so are the couches! They flock to the streets, practically running us down on the way. This skirted, wood garnished edition was clearly owned by an old woman at some point. Heck, it IS an old lady. You can see it sauntering through Ralph's with a young man -- twice as tall as her, leather clad, spurs wearing, stone faced, who, unsure of what to do, lets her waddle along with cart, not really helping but woe to the hapless mom with three kids who gets in their way!

"Sometimes the mystery is greater than the answer."

posted by kuaptic. @ 8:04 AM 0 comments

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

An Old Friend


Due to the making of a film based on the tv show Knightrider, we've seen this photo floating around the internet -- and it always makes us smile. It reminds of a time when we'd never seen a celebrity get old, when cheesiness was cool and when both the guys in this picture weren't so creepy.

posted by kuaptic. @ 8:53 PM 0 comments

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Our Baby

In early 1937, Jean contracted influenza. She recovered, and still weak, began work on Saratoga. While shooting the film with Clark Gable, she collapsed on the set. She was taken to the hospital, where doctors declared she had uremic poisoning. She died a few days later. She had made 44 films in 9 years. She was 26.

There were a number of rumors about Harlow's death -- that it was the prolonged result of a particularly bad beating she received from Paul Bern during their marriage, that she was poisoned, that her death was due to her mother's religion, Christian Science, which doesn't allow medicine to be practiced on its members. None are true. In light of modern medicine, we can see that the scarlet fevershe had as a teenager had damaged her kidneys. They slowly failed over the next ten years. They had no way to treat kidney failure at that time. The condition was fatal.

Husband William Powell paid for Harlow to be laid to rest in Forest Lawn Memorial Cemetary in Glendale. She wore a black negligee that she had worn just weeks earlier while shooting Saratoga. Rumor has it that someone placed a white gardenia in her hands with a note reading, "Good night, my dearest darliing." Her grave is marked with the words "Our Baby."

Saratoga was 90% finished and the used a body double to film the rest. Later, Clark Gable claimed that it felt as if he "were in the arms of a ghost." Saratoga went on to be Jean Harlow's biggest film.

posted by kuaptic. @ 9:16 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

The Platinum Blonde

In 1931, Jean Harlow starred in a film called Platinum Blonde, directed by Frank Capra. As the eponymous (look it up) blonde, Jean, a natural ash blonde, bleached her hair with a combination of peroxide, ammonia, Clorox and "Lux Flakes". As one can imagine, the process was extremely painful. She was the first to bleach her hair so obviously, and after the movie, she was the orginal Platinum Blonde.

She blew away the rote stories of good girl blondes and bad girl brunettes. She was a bad girl from the wrong side of the tracks who had a heart of gold, if only the right man could find it and make an honest woman of her. (We bet you were wondering how many cliches we could fit into that sentence!) Often, that man was Clark Gable, who starred in six films with her. There were rumors of romance.

Jean was no stranger to love, after ditching her young husband, Chuck, she married Paul Bern in 1932. Later that same year, he killed himself in their home on Cielo Drive (later house where Sharon Tate was murdered.) It may have been because he was impotant, or he might have even been killed by an ex-lover. In any event, it was the biggest scandal since Fatty Arbuckle fell from grace. She had an indiscreet affair with boxer, Max Baer (whose life was made into the movie Cindarella Man), which MGM put an end to by forcing Harlow to marry cinematographer, Harold Rossen. In 1935, she starred in Reckless with William Powell, with whom she quickly fell in love. After an extended engagement (reasons for which may have ranged between Louis B. Mayer not letting them marry and their differing opinions about reproduction.)

Her star soared. She was in several movies, including Hold Your Man and Red Dust which did huge business during the Depression. She was still young, only 26. But this story doesn't have a happy ending.

posted by kuaptic. @ 8:37 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

The Baby

Jean Harlow was born Harlean Harlow Carpenter on March 3, 1911 in Kansas City Missouri. Her father was a dentist from a blue collar background, while her mother was from a rich family. These were only the beginnings of their differences and her mother grew very unhappy in the marriage, eventually turning most of her attention to her daughter. Harlean was the only member of her generation in her family. They called her "the baby," a moniker that persisted her entire short life.

She grew up coddled by her mother, who took her to Hollywood to try to make her an actress, but with few prospects, they soon returned to Kansas. While in a summer camp, she got scarlet fever. A couple of years later, she eloped with a young man with an inheritance named Charles McGrew. The young couple moved away from Harlean's family, to Hollywood, where she became a socialite.

While taking a friend to an audition, Harlean was noticed by executives on the Fox Lot. They insisted on giving her letters of recommendation to other studios. First on a dare from friends, Harlean and went back to the lot, signing in under her mother's maiden name, Jean Harlow. Then her mother insisted that she return to try out. She began to be cast in films, like The Love Parade and Hell's Angels, which, with its color footage launched Harlow into into the sex symbol stratosphere.

posted by kuaptic. @ 8:03 AM 0 comments