The Kipling Hotel

As I was walking North on Western Ave I wasn't really finding any signs. Of course there were signs, but all relatively new. I walked by W 3rd St and and looked to the East to see this building in the distance. So I meandered up another few blocks then turned around and came to this building on the corner of W 3rd St and S Kingsley Dr. I assumed it was an old hotel that they have gutted and are making into "Luxury Studios". As it plainly states in the banner. But the whole mystique of the name, harking to Rudyard Kipling and this building's prime being in the past (though not as old as Kipling himself, I know); I felt like this hotel along with The Hotel Normandie, The Gaylord, and The Picadilly were much bigger deals a while ago. Maybe not, I tried googling this hotel but only came up with an address, so I guess I'll never know it's history. It did however salvage what I thought was a lost trip out to take photos, and it led me to many other signs on my way back to my car. If you can, never take the same route twice, most city streets are laid out in a grid, and you can see so much more if you find an alternate route back to your origin......unless of course it's a bad neighborhood or the streets aren't in a grid format, but I digress.



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House of Irish Coffee

I saw this restaurant one night when I was driving past on Fairfax Ave close to Olympic Blvd. I decided I had to get a picture of it. It did look a little more impressive at night, with the neon and all, but I still like it here......maybe I should try their steaks and Irish coffee?



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Monthly Rotations

Been listening to alot of movie soundtracks lately, just trying to get a focus on my work and have something in the background that'll cover up the noise around me. (I'm easily distracted....especially with the open layout of our studio.)


Beat Konducta Vol. 1 and 2 - Madlib

I forgot a few albums that I just bought, so here they are:

Puppet Jazz - Various songs from German movie composers of the 60's and 70's

Texas Funk - Various Funk and Soul Songs from 60's and 70's

Danger Doom - MF Doom and DJ DangerMouse




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The Hotel Normandie

This hotel's on the corner of Normandie Ave and 6th St. I was walking around that area not really finding many signs(I was walking north along Western at first) Then I decided to cross over a few streets and low and behold I happened upon this hotel and a few other great signs. Very nice sign, and the hotel itself is pretty cool, located on a hill facing Downtown LA. That's an interesting area over there.


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Gustav Kilmt@LACMA

I went to the Gustav Klimt exhibit, currently at LACMA. I'm a HUGE fan of his work and I don't think I could have passed up a chance to see his paintings up close. They were everything I imagined and more! He was such a great artist. The show does only contain 5 of his paintings, Adele Bloch-Bauer(pictured above being one of them). I wish there had been more, but this was a private collection so, kinda limited. BUT that brings me to the next reason to go.......which is......at the beginning of the gallery they have a little video that recounts how these paintings came to pass and what they had been thru up until this day. From being taken in WW2 to going back to the neice of the Bloch-Bauers in 1998. Very interesting video, but I kinda like history and stuff.

Amazing works!

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The Cinema

When I first saw this sign I thought maybe the building had been a theater at one point and the new owner never bothered to take the sign down, but then upon driving past it many more times I realized it was a sign for the bar just below it and to the left. The sign is anchored to the adjacent building. The "cocktails" sign in the background is at the other end of the bar. At night this sign looks totally different. If I remember correctly, the "The" is that neon pinkish color and the "Cinema" is in green. I need to go by some time at night and take a few pictures, the majority of signs I've taken pictures of would look completely different.

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Biltmore Glass

I saw this store on Sepulveda just north of Braddock St, in Culver City. Not much to say about it, I just liked it. It seems like it's one of those businesses that's been around for awhile. Doing the same thing they did 30 years ago. Have glass and mirrors changed that much since then? Maybe they have and I'm shortsighted for thinking they haven't. But I'd venture to say that the majority of the signs I'll see will be of a similar business type. A business that hasn't seen as much change, say, as the family owned restaurants that will ultimately get shut down and turned into a Denny's. Or the motor inn that gets turned into a Motel 6. They'll be the antique shops or the fabric stores that most people barely recognize or even bother to see, but keep moving on because they fill a niche that WalMart can't.......yet.

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Mesmerizing

I'm not sure if anyone's seen this, but it's pretty cool. If you're a fan of MouseTrap or that Honda "Cog" commercial, you'll definitely enjoy this video. NOTE: the beginning of the video is an anime tv show credit opening, but after that's done you'll see the goods. I was mesmerized, watching it at work. I found myself saying, "I'll watch just one more....one more...one more" It's like crack! That is if crack resembles watching a series of intricately assembled machines that lead to a final goal by using different smaller machines to achieve it. I don't think that made sense at all. Oh well, enjoy!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1990145653298392267


back to watching,

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The House of a Thousand Fabrics

This store's about a block north of Wilshire Blvd, on Fairfax Ave. The sign alone is pretty cool, such a great design, but the pieces on the front of the store add even more to the picture. How could you go wrong at "The House of a Thousand Fabrics"? There was also a sign around the side of the building, but I'll save that for another post.

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Royale Silver

This was a store on some road off Fairfax Ave....can't remember which, but I think it might have been W 3rd St.

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Fank Espinosa's Rocketo

Ok, I know I'm a little late in plugging this comic, but I had to wait for it to come out in trade paperback before I could read all the issues so far. I could never gather up all the individual ones at my local comic shop. I still have a couple more issues to read but what I've read so far is great. Frank Espinosa has created an awesome comic. The art's top notch and the story's great. If you get the chance don't pass this one up.

http://www.frankespinosa.com/


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Leader

A couple weekends ago I drove to Fairfax Avenue and started walking up and down the street looking for good signs. I think it's going to become a weekly ritual for me. It's nice just get get out and walk around, but I also get to see alot of LA I'd normally miss as I drive by it. This was some storefront close to Beverly Dr and Fairfax. The outside was encased in scaffolding but this was at the top....wonder what it will be?


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