Day of the Dead at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Here is my awful video review of the AMAZING Day of the Dead holiday event at the Hollywood forever cemetery

WATCH!

Check Out Escape Clause's Official Websites!

Hello Everyone!

I wanted to promote one of Escape Clause's websites! Escape Clause is a literary journal that offers a freedom for creativity for ingenious ideas. The official print would be around the September/ October time. However if you want to read more information about it you can check out our websites

http://escapeclausejournal.tumblr.com/

Escapeclausejournal.wordpress.com (IN CONSTRUCTION)

To submit a piece, send an email to escape_clause@yahoo.com

Flash back Friday #11

It's been a while... 

#11 The Villa Carlotta

I've always had a special place in my heart for the Villa Carlotta. My mom's name was Charlotte, and as a pet name my dad used to call her as "Carlotta". So since I was a child I always thought that it was her building. 

For me, that building always stood out. Even during the 90s when the building looked like a crack den, it was something that always caught my gaze. While people have come and go, and moons waxed and waned, time flew by. However despite all that, this building has always remained its image of "Old Hollywood".

Built in 1926, the building was owned by Eleanor Ince who was the wife of Thomas Ince who mysteriously died on a yacht owned by William Randolph Hearst. Rumor has that in a deal with Eleanor Ince, Hearst paid for the building as well as the Scientology center owned by her across the street in order to apologize for shooting and killing her husband on that yacht. 

Various forms of celebrities have moved into the place. However there isn't much information about them living here. The building has remained far from the history books other than the notorious rumor with Eleanor Ince.

Another rumor is that the Villa Carlotta and the Scientology Center have a underground passageway where people used to use to smuggle booze during prohibition. If you ask anyone there, supposedly they cannot deny that it exists. I haven't done it, so that is why I'm calling it a rumor.

Like most famous old buildings, the Villa Carlotta has gone through some rough patches. The penthouse supposedly began rotting, and many other tenants had to do a renewal to make their apartments functional. However this building is quite strong, and is still contained its beautiful image. 

Through some research I found a Facebook page asking to save the Villa Carlotta. Like many apartment buildings in Los Angeles, the Villa Carlotta has been bought by a company focusing on apartment owning. The belief with the owners of the Villa Carlotta is that there is a threat that the building might be torn down. I haven't researched if the building is a historical monument yet, to deny this theory, but you can read more by clicking here.

Spotted on Melrose, a Toynobee Tile

At the corner of Spaulding and Melrose is a Toynobee Tile!

So cool!

Nightmares on Wax at the Fonda Theater

On June 22nd, I got to see Nightmares on Wax at the Fonda Theater!

I generally don't know anything about that sort of music. However a lot of my friends were fans of them, and my dad is a MASSIVE fan. So when I accidentally found that they were playing at the Fonda Theater, Dad said we HAD to go. 

For those that didn't know the history about the Fonda theater (I know I sure didn't) here is some information. The Fonda opened up in October 18 1926, and it originally called The Music Box. It's investors were some of the early greats, John Barrymore, John Gilbert, Reginald Denny, King Vidor, and Mae Murray.

It was originally a preforming play theater where hits like Fancy, Chicago, Glengarry Glenn Ross, and Driving Miss Daisy were preformed. 

In 1945 Fox West Coast purchased the building and gave it a spanish decor changing the stage theater into a movie theater. The Fonda played movies for 32 years. 

In 1985 the Music Box became the Fonda theater after actor Henry Fonda.

In 2012 the building was bought and changed into a music venue. Originally in 2002 the theater was briefly called the Music Box but then switched back into the Fonda Theater. 

Now my review on Nightmares on Wax.

Like I wrote before, I am not usually a fan of this type of music. I don't really get it, and it tends to bore me a bit. HOWEVER, this band really gives it their all. I have only seen one other band really try that hard and it was Ego-Wrappin' in Japan.

These boys have heart, and they play for themselves and not for the money. Well, the money is nice, but you can tell they are mostly there for the art. 

Watching them made me happy. It made me try to like their music. Truth be told their style is not my style, but their dedication is. They worked quite hard to do a good show, and if I liked their music, I would put them in my top three favorite concerts. They preform well, but I wasn't quite with them yet.

I enjoyed the show though, and I loved being in the Fonda theater.

My Promised Lookbook

So here it is. In honor of my surpassed 100 views, and my nearly 200 views I have made a golden era lookbook. Here I have made my own imitation of Lupe Velez, Eleanor Powell, and Clara Bow. If you like this I'll make some more.

LUPE VELEZ

ELEANOR POWELL

CLARA BOW

My day trip to Venice

A couple of weekends ago I managed to go to Venice. Venice is a whole different world compared to East LA, so I'll just write about my basic observations.

Venice is beautiful. It is a city filled with the history of the silent movie era. It was the home of Marion Davies, Thelma Todd, and others. It is the city of canals and it sits right next to the beach. It offers art, beautiful sites, and the innovative Abbott Kinney is a clean hipster haven.

Compared to the east side, Venice shows off its wealth but denies even having it. Venice is like a rich rapper trying to claim he's from Compton, it just isn't the case. Venice is good to visit, but sometimes it can also be annoying.

I got to go see the Venice canals and eat at a restaurant called Gjelina.

I went to the Gjelina take away right after seeing the canals. I had the veggie sandwich and I asked them to make it vegan. Generally food in Abbott Kinney is quite easy to make vegan so there wasn't any problems with that request. 

The veggie sandwich was good. It wasn't AMAZING, but it was good. Using a massive variety of pickled vegetables, the sandwich becomes a standard vegetable sandwich. It wasn't awful and it did the job of filling me up. 

I only wish I was amazed.   

Venice is always a good place to visit. It is a combination of rich hipster and new age ideas that put it on the top of the map. If you have a day to spare, share it with Venice.