026 – AMC Atlantic Times Square 14 in Monterey Park

I go to a lot of movies. A lot. I try to get to the theater at least a few times a week – usually more – because that’s how these pictures were made to be seen. Moviepass allows me to see a new movie every 24 hours at participating theaters for a reasonable monthly fee (this is not an advertisement, but if you want to sign up I can send you my code), so I try to take as much advantage of that as I possibly can. Sometimes it leads me to diamonds in the rough that I might otherwise not see due to monetary constraints and sometimes it leads me to Dirty Grandpa – you win some, you lose some. So when I saw the mostly-positive reviews of Ip Man 3 (and the fact that it co-stars Mike Tyson) that was enough reason for me to check it out. Thanks to the eclectic demographics of Los Angeles even a more obscure foreign film such as Ip Man 3 can find a release somewhere in the city or its outlying areas. I just didn’t realize exactly where this one would be until it was too late.

024 – Alhambra, CA

“Los Angeles” as an entity is a bit of a conundrum, partially because it’s so unclear just what makes up the “City of Los Angeles” – and don’t even get me started on “Los Angeles County.” (Don’t get me started because I’m gonna start myself.) We could sit here all night trying to untangle the Gordian Knot that is this land mass in southern California. There are so many sub-cities and neighborhoods and mini-communities and unofficial municipalities both within and just outside the city that it’s nigh-impossible to keep them all straight. Did you know that L.A. County is larger than the combined areas of Rhode Island and Delaware? That’s crazy! (And definitely something that I knew before “researching” this review.) One little slice of that territorial pie is the city of Alhambra, located just north-east of Los Angeles proper. Don’t let the idyllic picture above fool you, though – Alhambra is a terror.

348 – Universal Orlando Resort

We have arrived at the meat of the latest trip to Orlando, Florida. Sure it is nice to reunite with my parents and my sister and my sister’s Rudi. But we all know why we’re here. It’s the main reason my mom wanted us to come. The happiest place on Earth: Universal Studios.

274 – New Beverly Cinema

There are two types of cinephiles in Los Angeles: the Cinefamily folks and the New Beverly crowd. In my time here I have exclusively been a Cinefamily guy. I was introduced to the theater through Doug Benson’s movie interruptions, but I quickly came to appreciate their programming and even became a member. Without Cinefamily I probably never would have seen some really great movies like The Act of Killing or Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen. But the New Beverly has always stood by as a constant reminder of what I’m missing in the world of L. A. cinema.

068 – All Star Lanes Bowling Center

this photograph was not taken at all star lanes

Are you looking for a way to blow off a time commitment that you have made to another human being? Are you looking for a fun and lightly competitive activity to take part in with a special someone? Are you looking for a good time with your bro-dogs? You can find the solution to all of these dilemmas (and more!) at your local bowling alley.

063 – Blipsy Bar

looks pretty nondescript from the outside

Just south of Hollywood, in the Larchmont neighborhood, you might run into a genuine Los Angeles oddity. Blipsy Bar is an example of a new breed of establishment, known as the “barcade.” Now, as a well-known supporter of any and every portmanteau, I am fully behind the bar-arcade combination. If you are interested in drinking alcohol or playing old video games Blipsy may be the place for you.

032 – The 3 Clubs Cocktail Lounge

This is going to be a short one. Because I’m tired and I have to wake up early tomorrow (can you believe it? On the Lord’s day). So enjoy it while you can.

I have a cousin, a few years older than myself, who used to live near where I currently habitate. For years he has been telling me about The 3 Clubs – about how cool it was back in his day. I scoffed, because clearly times have changed. Even when friends visited the bar and reported back positive thing, I was still disbelieving. I mean, he and I are spearated by a number of years; we couldn’t possibly like the same things. Well I’m here to report: it’s pretty cool.

024 – Molly Malone’s

The quiet dive bar. It is the holy grail of night-time hangouts, especially in Los Angeles, where it is nigh-impossible to find such a thing. I’ve found a few spots where I can spend an hour or two, but I fear I will spend the rest of my life searching for a low-key spot where I can just sit and talk to my friends at a normal volume. I don’t know; maybe this is something that only exists in television and film. Perhaps there is no real-world equivalent of How I Met Your Mother’s MacLaren’s. My search continues unabated, however, as giving up is just not in my nature. Which brought me to Molly Malone’s in the beautiful Fairfax district.

008 – Los Angeles Public Library – John C. Fremont Branch

look at those shingles!

Libraries are important in every stage of life. As a child we go to the library to find all those Goosebumps books our parents won’t buy for us. As a teen we go to check out DVDs and CDs to rip and add to our digital collections. As college students we go to write that paper we’ve had for months, but are just starting to write the night before it is due. As homeless adults we go to get on the Internet and look at porn. And as old people we go to find someone (anyone) to talk to. The library is always there for us, so it is important to be there for our libraries when they need us. That was a duty I had been neglecting for too long, but now that I have a California driver’s license that will be the case no longer. I. Will. Have. Books!