Site Scene in L.A.

These days it's harder and harder to find a good cup of old fashioned coffee shop coffee in Los Angeles. It's hard to believe there was a time when coffee wasn't served by Barista's at caffeine pusher chains into cardboard cups with sleeves to protect your hand from burning. I'm talking about the days before the fancy latte and Tall, Grande or Venti servings. Ordering a cup of coffee was just that -- a cup of coffee poured into a heavy duty restaurant-style cup set nicely on a doily lined saucer. What was best about the deal is you could usually get an entire breakfast for what the average cup goes for now. Sure, I may be holding onto the past with an over glorified sentiment but I can't help myself. The impersonal interactions I've encountered when getting my morning rush fix have left me feeling weak. I miss the days of Norms, Chips, Googie, Tiny Naylor's and the rest. I've got a problem with leaving an obligated tip for someone who does nothing mo...

Last night was one of those humid L.A. summer eves that can easily drive you out of your mind and/or drive you out of your house in search of basic hydration. It was so bad I would have settled for anything liquid be it coffee, juice, a cocktail, water…whatever, just to get away from the cucaracha breeding stickiness of my floors and walls and into an air conditioned cool L.A. social setting. Seeing how I live in an area which has no such establishments catering to these needs I stayed home sweating up a thirst beyond reason. Within minutes I began to pace back and forth like a caged beast out of its natural element all the while pondering the reason for this sudden feeling of being under socioeconomic quarantine. In a city such as Los Angeles, why should I have to get in my car and drive 4 miles to the nearest Starbucks for a cup of coffee; 5 miles to browse a real magazine rack; up to 8 miles for a gin and tonic at a bar with a good selection on the jukebox; 9.6 miles to stock up on ...

One Wilshire Blvd. is located in the financial district of downtown Los Angeles at Grand. If you drove west to its very end you find yourself up against a decision of which way to turn on Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica. A left takes you to Venice Beach and the funky locos on rollerblades; a right heads you to PCH and up the coast as far as you are willing to go. How much more L.A. does this get? I have always had a fascination with this route, mostly because of it's ability to get you from Point A to Point B, which at one time, felt like a major excursion like the time my friend Val and I made our way to the Santa Monica Civic for a Mink DeVille concert with the help of a Thomas Guide and sheer luck. Hey, we were teens. Now it has become a daily routine for getting to and from work riding Metro's Red Rapid (west) from Boyle Heights, over the 6th Street bridge, smack down the crusty crack of skid row, through downtown, along the Miracle Mile, and finally to the pits of La Brea whe...