L. A. Hype, Los Angeles

The public is welcome to visit The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences...
November 8 through March 3, 2013
The Academy Grand Lobby Gallery
Tuesday through Friday,
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Weekends, noon to 6 p.m.
Closed Friday, February 22 – Sunday, February 24

Free admission.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world's preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards–in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners-the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; provides financial support to a wide range of other movie-related organizations and endeavors; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies.

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Charities are the rave in LA. If you are in town and can afford to attend one of the galas that appear almost nightly, do, do, do. It is fun to do and also you will hopefully be benefiting a worthy cause. Why a rave? Well LA is also Hollywood and the glitz and glamour of it all draws a crowd. Most are in it to be seen or see and sometimes a great meal is to be had.

KCET Public Television gave such a party in Beverly Hills, featuring noted TV personality/ Master Chef Jacques Pepin. He was giving out his soon to be released cook book. Jacques came around to every table and signed his new book on cooking. My wife, Sue, and I had met Jacques before at a cooking class that he presented with his daughter, Claudine. Glitz? You bet! Three chefs came out and presented their food dishes with explanations of the ingredients. Glamour? You bet! High fashion and casual elegance filled the room. A great meal? You bet! With top notch chefs, it has to be. And fun was had by all. I love LA.

This tip is for drivers and pedestrians.

Particularly on Sundays, film crews choose to shoot on some busy downtown streets. A few times, I was caught off guard by this, causing me to miss a few bus connections. Walking away from the shoots, I have found myself disoriented. Drivers get frustrated enough with the one-way signs and the film shooting is just another pain as they have to be diverted.

L.A. is, like, totally, valley in the 818.... so vast....well, what can be made of her really? Like... she is tranquil, loving the less hectic environment of L.A. She is happy, quite the sunny gal basking in the constant sun. And yeah, like, she's hot too- such a hot, porn-sexy thing ! (The Valley is the porn capital of the U.S.)

Within the 818 are quite constrasting communities- the beautiful Woodland Hills and the crappy Van Nuys (and I say that with such affection); the charming Chatsworth and the even more crappy Pacoima; the giant business center of Burbank and the tiny Toluca Lake with barely a center, etc etc...

Depending on who you ask here, the 818 area of "the Valley" is deemed with affection or detest. Those who love it seperate it from "L.A" itself (as if it the latter were the "bad seed"), though the Valley is, politically speaking, part of the city. The Valley has almost broken away from L.A. city a few times but no successful legislation has come about yet.

Many come in the 818 for Universal Studios and City Walk, including the Gibson Ampitheater.
General diversion is on and off the grand Ventura Blvd, Sports and nature enthusiasts appreciate Balboa Park in Van Nuys, and arts lovers delight in the theater playhouses in North Hollywood. If not all these, just a nice drive along Mulholland Blvd makes for a wonderdful Valley evening.

In the end, the 818 is just that "different" one that manages to stand out from the other area codes, despite also being too vast to explain in basic terms.

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L.A. reveals a hip, urban side in the "323", with " her hair down" and fashionable without being typically "trendy". Then again, being anti-trendy, in effect, conjures up a trend itself- oh the dilemma! However, it is clear that one can deem her quite the mellow, down to earth type in these parts.

Considered, "L.A. East", "323" covers much of the urban, downtown adjacent enclaves of Silverlake, Echo Park, Los Feliz and parts of Hollywood. Remarkably, the streets within are equally the most peaceful and cleanest yet unsafe and dirty of Los Angeles. Popular landmarks for tourists and locals here are Dodger Stadium and Griffith Park.

The identity of this area code is still under some development as is L.A. East but from what I see, it does appeal to a more independent, non-conformist way of being. People around here are typically from creative fields- writers, designers, musicians and other artists from the industry (of Hollywood) or who are "promising". Family life is not the greatest in these parts, but the affordability of many places here does attract families. People who would enjoy the single- mingle life would love hanging out here,say, in a Silverlake dive bar.

If you enjoy a coffee shop that's not Starbucks, you will be happy to find several unique places to get your fix. Dining options are rather eccletic and affordable, generally much more so than in the Westside. Moreover, for unique and specialized shopping for clothes and various gifts, one will be satisfied here- -so, isn't there enough to come to the Eastside?

It would be no exxaggeration to say that in LA celebrity is valued over just about everything. People are impressed by celebrity and being the gardner, hair dresser, dog walker, toe nail clipper to a star is what it means in jolly old england to say, 'Biscuit Manufacturer to her Majesty the queen or whatever.' It's also ridiculous that in some cities, civic spaces are named after founders, architechts, mayors etc. In LA, they name streets and buildings after Game show hosts!

A good example of the pursuit is the enigmatic figure of Angelyne who turned about 15 pounds of silicone and shameless billboard exposure into a kind of low level B-movie style bimbo celebrity. celebrity without the excuse for it. anyway, you'll see billboards of angelyne and her signature pink corvette all over. Only now, the billboard of her is a cartoon because she's gotta be pushing 70 and there's only so much a beverly hills plastic surgeon can do.

I was very happy as seeing the location of 'Beverly Hills, 90210 (American long run drama)' at Melrose Avenue. But in fact this shop was empty at that time...