The La Brea Tar Pits

By popular demand (and by "popular" I mean two people), I present to you The La Brea Tar Pits...

Did you know that "La Brea" means "tar" in Spanish? You probably did. I think I might be the only person left in LA that doesn't speak a word of Spanish. I take that back, I do remember most of the Spanish I learned from Luis and Maria on Sesame Street.

Just like the Museum of Jurassic Technology, sadly there are no dinosaurs at The La Brea Tar Pits. Again, you're probably thinking, "this guy is an idiot! Of course there aren't any dinosaurs at The La Brea Tar Pits!" For those of you who aren't amature paleontologists, The La Brea Tar Pits are a famous cluster of tar pits that have yeilded a pleathera of fossilized organisms from the last ice age. Most recognizable are the fossils of mammals from the ice age, meaning mastodons, dire wolves, and sabor tooth cats among others (and they are sabor tooth cats, not tigers. The museum makes it very clear that sabor tooth cats are not tigers. And now you know).

I visited the tar pits and the accompanying Page Museum with a friend from out of town. It's no Museum of Natural History in NY, but it's still pretty cool if you're looking for something different. The small Page Museum has an extensive collection of fossils on display, and there's a fantastic animated short film that screams, "I was made in the early 90s!"

After visiting the museum, we walked around the grounds. You would expect that these mastodons came out of giant holes in the ground, but alas no. Most of the pits are no longer being excavated at all, and look like puddles of mud about the size of a king sized bed. Fortunately, they are much cooler than mud because gases bubble up to the surface, making them look like boiling puddles of mud. As an extra special bonus, they smell awful. And no, you can't jump in them...unless you jump the fence.

One of the pits, Pit 91, is still under excavation, but only a few month out of the year due to funding constraints. Pit 91 really is a big hole in the ground. Unfortunately, we weren't there during excavation, but it was still cool to see an active excavatoin site. Where else am I going to see an excavation site?

While you're there, be sure to check out the statues of the mamoth family at the edge of the pond. The mother is struggling to escape from the tar while the others stand by helplessly. It's probably the best visual of the tar pits as they were in the Ice Age. I believe it's the same pond featured in the film Volcano that births the title geological phenomenon.

The tar pits are a great way to spend an afternoon feeling like you're on a third grade field trip. And field trips are the best part of third grade!


Page Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits
5801 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 934-PAGE (7243)
www.tarpits.org

Hours:
Monday through Friday, 9:30 am to 5:00 pm
Saturday, Sunday & Holidays, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm

Admission:
Adults: $7.00
Seniors 62 and older and Students with I.D.: $4.50
Youths 13-17 years old: $4.50
Children 5-12 years old: $2.00
Members and Children under 5: Free

The Museum of Jurassic Technology

There aren't any dinosaurs at The Museum of Jurassic Technology. In fact, it has nothing to do with the Jurassic period at all. And as for technology, I wouldn't use the word "technology" to describe anything I saw there.

The Museum of Jurassic Technology in Culver City is by far the most random place I've yet to visit in Los Angeles. The museum's official website describes the museum as "an educational institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge and the public appreciation of the Lower Jurassic." That would be a perfectly legitimate description if the museum had anything to do with the geological Jurassic Period, but it doesn't. If anyone can tell me what "Lower Jurassic" this refers to, I'm all ears. Honestly, I have the sneaking suspicion that the whole place is one big inside joke. If it is not, I apologize to the museum's founders and employees, and I am clearly missing something. Please do explain.

Some of the museum's eclectic displays include a collection of items from American trailer parks, microscopic mosaics made from butterfly wing scales, a tribute to the dogs of the Soviet Space Program, and a carving of Pope John Paul II that sits in the eye of a needle (my personal favorite).

My usual companion for random adventures accompanied me to the museum on a Saturday afternoon. The museum nearly disappears amongst the storefronts of Venice Blvd. I don't think we would have even noticed it had we not been looking it. It was a rare overcast day, adding to the drama of this fictional like menagerie of curiosities. The front door was locked and had a button with a simple sign that read, "ring for admittance." We did so, expecting Lurch to answer. Rather, we were greeted by a small, soft spoken young man that I can best describe as "emo." He welcomed us into a small, dimly lit foyer.

After signing into the guest book, we entered the belly of the whale. The whole place was dark, winding, and claustrophobic. The biggest mood setter of all was the sounds; in the distance we could hear eerie chiming bells. In the first small chamber stood a taxidermy fox in a spotlight, and from the fox emanated sounds of cackling. If this wasn't creepy enough, when I looked through the special viewer, it looked as if there was a tiny laughing man inside the fox's head.

We spent just over an hour exploring the nooks and crannies of the museum, but I would suggest giving yourself more time to enjoy a cup of tea in the Tula Tea Room and a short film in the Borzoi Kabinet Theater.

I may not entirely understand the purpose behind The Museum of Jurassic Technology, but that's not to say I don't appreciate it. The place strikes me as one big art installation in that it evokes emotion. You have to experience it for yourself.



The Museum of Jurassic Technology
9341 Venice Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
310-836-6131
www.mjt.org

Hours:
Thur 2pm-8pm
Fri-Sun 12pm-6pm

Suggested donation of $5

Craft Night

I came across this little gem known as Craft Night on the Not for Tourists website. (If you don't have the Not for Tourists' guide for LA, I highly recommend it. It's an indispensable supplement to the Thomas Guide. The NFT has maps by neighborhood and lists the locations of tons of grocery stores, banks, shops, restaurants, etc.) Anyway, while browsing the site, I came across a review for Craft Night and was intrigued.

We went to Craft Night not sure what to expect. All we had to go on was that blurb on the NFT website and the description on the official Craft Night website: adults doing crafts (yes, like crafts that you did in elementary school art class or in Cub Scouts) in the back room of a bar at night. We reluctantly entered the back room of Akbar and were promptly greeted by the self proclaimed "Craft Captain," Julianna "JP" Parr. Just over a dozen people (all in their 20s or 30s I would guess) sat at tables chatting, drinking, and most importantly crafting. The craft of the night was paint your own fashion rings. I can't say that my ring gets any use, but I did have a fun time painting that bulbous piece of plastic. My friend had so much fun, she painted not one, but two rings. As we sat there painting and gluing an excessive number of googly eyes to our rings, we chatted with JP and some fellow crafters. We learned that Craft Night goes back a number of years and has had several homes through its history.

Things like Craft Night are what make LA truly unique. Anywhere else in the country people spend their Wednesday nights watching "Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader," or whatever the hot show of the moment is. But not me. I go crafting.


Craft Night held Wednesday nights 9pm-midnight at Akbar
4356 Sunset Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90029
visit www.crafthead.com for schedule

Farmer John Pig Mural

A few months ago a friend called me and said, "let's do something random."

"Okay," I said as I picked up my trusty Lonely Planet Guide (the best travel guide series I've yet to find) to Los Angeles. I flipped aimlessly through the pages and landed on the Farmer John Pig Mural. Of course that caught my eye. What exactly was a "pig mural?" Turns out that it's exactly what it sounds like: a mural of pigs. If that isn't random enough, said mural is painted across the entirety of a factory for the Farmer John company which makes....pork products.

A pig mural was random enough to satisfy my friend's need for randomness, so we set out that afternoon for picturesque Vernon, CA. If you've never been to Vernon, you haven't missed anything (except, of course, for the Farmer John Pig Mural). Vernon is just south of downtown LA and consists of nothing but warehouses and factories. It honestly is one of the ugliest places I've ever seen. And to add to its charm, it sits on the scenic LA River.

Although there was no shortage of factories, finding the Farmer John factory was no problem, on account of the giant mural. The factory was probably about 100 by 150 yards, or in other words: big, and the mural covered the entire wall that wrapped around the complex and every exterior wall of every building. The whole mural came across as an exercise in contradiction; the grassy countryside depicted in industrial Vernon and pigs happily frolicking on the walls of a meat processing plant.

We must have spent at least half an hour exploring every inch of that mural. I've seen murals before and I've seen factories, but that was my first time seeing both together. The experience had just the right amount of weird to make an afternoon on a sidewalk outside a factory fun. You really should go check it out.

And the best part: the whole place smelled like bacon.


Farmer John Pig Mural
3049 E. Vernon Ave.
Vernon, CA 90058

Welcome to "Going Hollywood: Adventures in Los Angeles!"

This blog is dedicated to that age old question, "what do you want to do today?" As a relatively new resident of LA and Southern California, I don't yet know everything that LA has to offer. However, I have begun to discover a few unique things to do in LA that even many natives are probably oblivious to. On this blog I plan to chronicle all the adventures I have in hopes of helping others escape the monster of boredom.

Sure we all know about Disneyland, Grauman's Chinese Theater, and the hottest club of the hour. Those are the sorts of things you can find in just about any travel guide to LA. Some of that will find its way into Going Hollywood, but my goal is to uncover all the adventures that LA has to offer, no matter how large or small. Going Hollywood is about really experiencing everything (and I mean everything) that LA has to offer.

I hope that this blog will inspire others to go out there and do something random and new. And if you come up with your own adventures in LA, I encourage you to post your experience, whether it be a fantastically unique restaurant you tried on Friday night or where you found the best Michael Jackson impersonator in town.

Whatever you do, stop asking "what should we do today," and just go out there and do something. Enjoy!