That time in 2018 when a fire near Hawthorne stopped morning rush hour traffic on the 105 Freeway. A stalled food truck took advantage of a captive audience, who were happy to oblige. I ❤️LA.

Universal's backlot tram tour started in June 1964. Cost: $2.50. In August, Tippi Hedren (honorary mayor of Universal City!) joined Mayor Sam Yorty and MCA chairman Jules Stein on the groundbreaking for the actual theme park, then-called Visitors' Village at Universal Studios.

UNREMARKABLE POSTCARD SERIES, No. 129. Wilmington, Calif. 1960.

What do you get when you cross Violent Femmes with Talking Heads? Well, you get The Blind Leading the Naked, the Femme's 1986 release produced by Jerry Harrison, who manned the keyboards last night for the record's 40th Anniversary at Bellwether. (Yes they played the 1st LP too!)

In 2001, Hector Ponce created this mural (from a photo) on the Harvey Apt. Building at 5640 Santa Monica Blvd. Always liked the playful "Paul is dead" wink. Later, it became known as the place where the suspect who killed publicist Ronni Chasen offed himself as cops closed in.

When it opened in 1966, the Century Plaza Hotel was the first hotel to offer color TVs in every room. Other advanced features for its time included electric blankets, radios in nightstands, central A/C and heat, and ice machines.

For 50+ years, Lower Franklin Cyn was a huge open-air reservoir downstream from Upper Franklin Cyn. It sat just north of the junction of Beverly Dr. & Coldwater Cyn. DWP held moonlight hikes! It was drained after the '71 Quake; a failed dam would've swamped the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Red-Shouldered Hawk outside my home in Los Feliz, sizing up its lunch options.

Observation Towers used to be big deals at amusement parks. Magic Mountain's still stands but has been closed since 2014. Marineland's had a double-decker elevator, its decrepit tower lingering 8 yrs. after the park's '87 closure. Knott's & Sea World's are still hanging in there.

When it opened in 1963, the Vincent Thomas Bridge linked the Port of Los Angeles with Long Beach. Thus ended decades of a ferry crossing the channel. On Nov. 14, 1963, souvenir tickets were offered for the "Last Ferry Ride."

Tom LaBonge once told me he thought buildings higher than 20 stories b/w Western & La Brea should be banned to preserve views of the Hollywood Sign. The planned 36-story bldg at Gower/Hollywood will be 419 feet, almost as high as City Hall. Note how its renderings only look south/west. 😶

Here's a deep cut for longtime LA Times print readers. Remember when its weather page used to include these George Melies-type pictures to show the moon's different stages? I like how the moon was sad & mopey when he wasn't bright and "Full."

This is a great day. Cinerama Dome reopening in 2028. It will join Sony's Drafthouse chain, but it WON'T be a dine-in theatre, with other motifs intact. Thank you Ben Steinberg for your unflagging persistence in the face of long odds to help get this to the finish line. deadline.com/2026/07/cine...

Cinerama Dome & Hollywood Arclight Could Reopen In Sony Deal

Sony is looking to lease the dormant and Covid-struck Cinerama Dome and Hollywood Arclight and bring it back to life in the near future.

deadline.com

The Luau was a popular tiki bar at 421 N. Rodeo Dr. until 1978. In 1960, diva Lena Horne entered with her white husband, prompting a diner to utter racial epithets. Horne responded by hurling a lamp, ashcan, and dishes at him, leaving him dazed & bloodied. No charges were filed.

In 1968, flush with fed money for SST planes, LA planned Santa Monica Island -- an off-shore airport & mini-city supporting the U.S.'s version of the Concorde. Two tunnels would connect to LAX & Santa Monica. It died by 1971 after concerns about costs, the environment & sonic booms.

Sundays are fun for random day trips with stops at vintage diners. Halfway House Cafe on Sierra Hwy opened as a trading post halfway between LA & Antelope Valley. Waitresses still call you "hon" as they serve up tasty burgers, tuna melts, etc. It's also appeared in tons of films.

1970s memory in Beverly Hills: the smell of fresh Wonder Bread from Continental Baking Co. perfuming the air. Loaves were loaded onto freight trains (the old tracks b/w Little & Big Santa Monica Blvds.). The factory was demo'd in 1984 for office development along Civic Center Dr.

Besides his proposal to access water from the Columbia River, in 1992 Kenneth Hahn and then-Alaska governor Wally Hickel wanted to run a 1,400-mile undersea pipeline from Alaskan rivers to Calif. (and ultimately L.A.). Estimated to cost up to $110 billion, Congress rejected it.

My cat has good taste... an uncanny knack for only paying attention to the TV screen when an iconic movie is playing.

Starting in 1964, the LA area was the Western hub for the American Nazi Party. Its first HQ was at 823 Colorado St. in Glendale. In 1972, 1,000 protestors stormed its new HQ in El Monte. The Nazis left SoCal in '76 after more protests, legal battles & a homicide on its property.

Just took an immersive journey thru 4 floors of the old St. Vincent hospital, which houses a pop-up where 70 artists have converted 80 hospital rooms to a range of work with emotional themes (fear, anger... think of those "pain charts" in rooms). Tix at "Hospital of Emotions"!

Mona Murray was the CHP's first female motorcycle officer, starting in Nov. 1980. A media circus covered her first day on the job on LA's crazed freeways. Her CHP career lasted 38 years. She eventually rose thru the ranks to become a Deputy Commissioner, retiring in 2015.

For decades Love's BBQ sign graced the 101 in Calabasas. Then Lovi's Deli took over, repurposing Love's sign by changing one letter, like Vons/Jons, etc. I scoffed and never went. Until today. OMG what a great deli. And the owners are actually the Lovi family. Color me contrite.

RIP Randolph Mantooth. I was a HUGE fan of "Emergency!" Then in 2002, our neighbor at our 1st house, in Hollywoodland, was... Randy! I dogsat his dog Dodger, he helped me landscape, and we hosted him & his wife Kristen on BBQ nights. A true mensch, even kinder than "John Gage."

The climax of "The Graduate" was shot at La Verne United Methodist Church (3205 D St.). Unchanged today but for this movie magic... The outdoor staircase that Ben climbs to the balcony to scream "Elaine!!!" was a prop removed after shooting. IRL, it's accessed by inner-stairs.

This is the 10th Anniversary of Joe Davis as the Dodgers' primary voice. In 2012, as Vin hinted about retirement, I wrote a piece imploring the team's new owners to hire a young unknown who could forge his own path like Vin did. I'd say it worked out! patch.com/california/e...

Hiking along Steckel Park in Santa Paula, I came across an aviary. This salty fella came over to greet me. Being cussed at by a parrot was a bucket list item I never knew I needed until now.

I love the lines & shading of this 1968 contour proposal of the Santa Monica Mtns. Never-built: "Upgrading" Topanga Cyn & Mulholland to 60 mph parkways. And a sprawling UCLA Research Park. Meanwhile, Mission Cyn Landfill is now Mountaingate, the tony enclave built on an old dump.

GEO-QUIZ ANSWER: Y'all are too smart. Yes, the building glimpsed from Hwy 150 in Santa Paula is Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel at St. Thomas Aquinas College. Same architect as University of Notre Dame, with the dome representing Rome, the bell tower, California's Missions.