From the Newsroom

Everyday

midday downtown

By Eric Richardson — August 11, 2004

I'm working from home today and needed to return a DVD to the library (The Madness of King George, which Kathy and I rented and watched last night... Her pick; I hadn't heard of it, but liked it), so D4, Miggles, and I walked over there at lunch. On the way we ate ate the Yorkshire Grill, which I had seen many times but never been inside. It was very much...


Everyday

a busy friday

By Eric Richardson — August 07, 2004

Busy day yesterday... I worked from home, which allowed me and Miggles to meet Kathy, her sister, Magilla, and D4 at McCormick's and Schmidt's for lunch. They were celebrating 12 years downtown by selling lobsters for $12. I'm not normally a lobster person (too much work... give me a steak any day), but $12 is a steal so that's what I got. The place was...


Everyday

following up on the busway

By Eric Richardson — August 05, 2004

Just following up on yesterday's post about stopped work on the Orange Line. The Daily News is the source of good morning reading today, with an article on one man leading the busway opposition and an editorial decrying NIMBY opposition to the construction. Both make the point that NIMBY concerns already scuttled both subway and light-rail plans in the valley...


Everyday

poor Metro

By Eric Richardson — August 04, 2004

Metro's having a rough little run of late. First they have an appeals judge order work stopped on the valley busway, and now today's LA Times has an article talking about how South Pasadena residents hate the Gold Line and want to file a lawsuit (South Pasadena residents hate everything, but I'll get to that). Though it shares its naming convention with Metro...


Everyday

variety covers downtown cinema

By Eric Richardson — August 03, 2004

As noted today in LA Observed, last night downtown held its first premiere in decades when the Orpheum played host to Tom Cruise and Collateral. Variety had a good article run in advance talking a bit about the revitalization of cinema downtown, focusing on this premiere, the Laemmle Grande, and the Linda Lea. I wasn't here last night to snoop around down...


Everyday

more on the Caltrans building

By Eric Richardson — August 02, 2004

I just wanted to follow up my post from last week about the new Caltrans building downtown. I rode by the building again this morning and also had dinner the other night with a friend who's an architecture major at USC, so both of those events brought to light additional thoughts. First, this morning I got a bit of a late start, so I ended up riding past the...


Everyday

the CalTrans Building and understanding architecture

By Eric Richardson — July 29, 2004
1 Comment

This week's Downtown News is their Best of Downtown issue. One story presents reader answers to the question, "Who Would You Vote Off the Downtown Island?" Top voter-getter was the still under construction CalTrans Building. From the article: Some have complained that, with 13 stories of metal and steel, the building resembles a futuristic fortress out of...


Everyday

remaking a failure

By Eric Richardson — July 28, 2004

Over the past few days the long awaited sale of 1100 Wilshire has finally completed. The synopsis background for this maligned structure is provided by an article in today's LA Times, titled "Buyers Seek a Home Life for Empty L.A. Tower": The 255,000-square-foot tower, whose construction was finished in 1986, has never been more than 10% occupied. It has been...


Everyday

morning troubles

By Eric Richardson — July 28, 2004

It's been a long morning. I got up, took a shower, made coffee, got in my car, started to work... only to have my car die in the intersection of 7th and Broadway. I pulled up to the red light, sat there waiting for it to turn green, it did, I started to go, the car sort of jerked once, and then it turned off. I pushed it across the intersection, into what...


Everyday

more local shopping adventures

By Eric Richardson — July 24, 2004

It's days like today that make me all the more amazed with my neighborhood. In the process of moving apartments I managed to lose the cord to my electric razor. I didn't actually realize this until a couple weeks later, when the battery started to get low and I made a futile search for it. So now I've got a dead razor, and being the lazy person I am, that...