Monthly Archives: February 2011

Sturtevant Falls & LACMA

02/23/2011 – 1:25 AM

Since Monday was President’s Day, I had a day off work. Turned out to be a pretty eventful day!

Some time shortly after noon, I went on my first ever hike! We began at Chantry Flat, within the Angeles National Forest, in Big Santa Anita Canyon. Destination: Sturtevant Falls.

Along the trail, we saw these ducks taking an afternoon nap! Male and female mallard ducks – the mister and the misses.

I thought this sign was rather morbid. I love it! Funny, dark humor, straight to the point.

Alas, Sturtevant Falls! It was very cold around the falls, especially when you could feel the mist from the water.

Nature is beautiful.

Hiking back, we found that this duck couple was busy having their afternoon snack!

And here we have the trails.

I was glad to discover that my hiking stamina is pretty good, although this particular hike was a short and easy one. I didn’t even break a sweat! The hardest part was the hike back, which consisted of a lot of uphill trekking, but it was definitely not bad at all. Table tennis and wushu has paid off! Now I’m ready and excited to try out some harder hikes.

Following the hike and a brief afternoon breather, we proceeded to LACMA. A perk of President’s Day being on a Monday is that LACMA observes Target Free Holiday Mondays. Entrance to the museum was absolutely free, given that you still have to pay for parking, of course.

Outside the museum, there is currently this awesome art installation, “Urban Light” by Chris Burden.

Inside there were many art installations, including this one of giant billiard balls.

…and this one of a giant comb.

“Urban Light” is even more amazing at night.

One of the current exhibitions is “Fashioning Fashion: European Dress in Detail, 1700–1915,” which will be at LACMA from October 2, 2010–March 27, 2011. I was extremely excited to discover this was on exhibit during our visit! I absolutely love vintage European fashion.

The “Larry Fink: Hollywood, 2000–2009″ exhibition, which runs February 13, 2011–April 3, 2011, was also in the same building as “Fashioning Fashion.”

My mother is a huge fan of Diana Ross, so I thought I’d take a shot of this photo of the lead Supreme herself.

I thought this was a cute contemporary piece – a giant balloon dog!

And just for kicks, we have this piece featuring none other than the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

This was also my first time visiting LACMA, so it was a fun day of firsts.

Tags Art, Chantry Flat, Hiking, LACMA, Museums, Nature, Outdoors, Recreation, Scenery, Sturtevant Falls, YL | Comments (4)

Art Food Restaurants & Cafes Street Art

Urth Caffe & the Quest for Banksy in Los Angeles

02/20/2011 – 2:32 AM

On Friday evening, 2011-02-18, Allan, BeiBei, and I decided to go on a quest hunting for surviving Banksy art in the Los Angeles area. With the Academy Awards approaching and Banksy nominated for best documentary for his film “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” there has been a lot of hype regarding recent Banksy pieces that have surfaced. (See the MSNBC article here.) We were able to track down three – two recent pieces and one older piece. Prior to our Banksy hunting, we decided to check out Urth Caffe in Santa Monica.

There are currently four Urth Caffe locations: Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Downtown Los Angeles, and West Hollywood. This establishment is especially known for their own brand of premium, fresh roasted whole bean organic coffee. BeiBei and I were excited to try their lattes. I had tasted a latte made with Urth coffee recently at Our Daily Grind in El Segundo and was immediately sold on its delicious flavor, so I was intrigued to try out the coffee from an actual Urth Caffe establishment. Not only do they serve coffee, but they also serve food. Therefore, we decided to energize ourselves with dinner and caffeine at Urth Caffe in preparation for our evening of Banksy adventures.

BeiBei and I each had a small Spanish Latte with their Urth Italia espresso blend (strong and heavy), which cost $4.00. The latte was deliciously smooth in the beginning followed by a strong espresso flavor. I enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed the awesome coffee art. Mine was a bird!

Allan ordered the Spanish latte with their Urth Dolce espresso blend (sweet and mild). It was significantly sweeter and milder than the Urth Italia version, but the flavor was still just as delicious. He and BeiBei both got leaf designs as their coffee art.

For his entree, Allan ordered the Urth Tamales, which are chicken tamales served with mixed greens salad & a mild Chipotle sauce ($11.95)

BeiBei had the Urth Pot Roast Sandwich ($15.95).

I ordered the “New Yorker” Sandwich ($12.50), which is basically a classic Reuben sandwich. I love how they toasted the logo onto the bread.

For dessert, Allan ordered the pumpkin pie and BeiBei ordered the Urth Italia tiramisu.

BeiBei also decided to take home a bag of the Urth Italia coffee!

After eating our fill, we proceeded with our Banksy plans for the night.

First stop, Westwood!

Next stop, Beverly Hills! Yes, it started pouring rain – hard. But that did not stop us!

Here, doggy, doggy.

And finally, Los Angeles, for an oldie (surfaced in April 2010). This is one of my personal favorites.

That about concluded our Banksy night, but we found a pleasant surprise while driving around trying to find our way back to the freeway.

An Obey piece by Shepard Fairey!

Overall, a successful evening, regardless of the unpleasant weather.

Tags Allan Chiou, Art, Banksy, BeiBei Chen, Coffee, Denise Ngai, Los Angeles, Obey, Shepard Fairey, Street Art, Urth Caffe | Comments (3)

Art Street Art

Banksy Spotted in Los Angeles

02/19/2011 – 1:57 AM

Tonight consisted of hunting for surviving Banksy pieces in Los Angeles. Mission: Successful! Here’s a preview of what the night entailed and a special present for you – a location!

Banksy art at Joe’s Auto Park, 908 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA